This Wednesday, I spoke on the importance of living an unwasted life.  The idea is not new to me, it is as recent as John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life and as foundational as the Scripture.  This morning while reading I came across a quote that reinforced so much of what I have been feeling.

"The cross of Jesus Christ always changes men's plans.  The cross of Christ is revolutionary, and if we are not ready to let it be revolutionary in us nor let it cost us anything or control us in any way, we are not going to like a church that takes the things of God seriously.  People want the benefits of the cross but they don't want to be under the Lordship of Christ."  A.W. Tozer, When He is Come, page 19.

Join the Pursuit and let the revolutionary cross keep you from wasting it all!

The call for repentance for some conjures up images of a self-
righteous preacher type telling everyone the need to shape up and be
more like him. But this is far from the Biblical view.
In Acts 3, Peyer and John are on their way to the Temple for prayer.
Before they get in, God heals a lame man through them. When this
joyous trio gets into the Temple, they draw quite a crowd. Peter
seizes the opportunity to tell those around about Jesus. He ends by
calling them to repent. Not so that they can be like him, but so that
they will receive three things:

1. That their sins may be blotted out
2. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord
3. That He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.

My hope is to take each of these three and explore them each in a
little more detail over the next several days. I feel there is much to
be discovered.

Last night held the possibility of being a pivotal night in the life of Southern Baptists.  And yet, I believe it is fair to say that a vast majority were unaware.  Over the past year, there has been a call for a Great Commission Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention.  Questions about the place, structure, and roles of state and national structures within the convention were raised and not a few feathers were ruffled.  Yet the dialogue seems to have been healthy and though there are detractors, these questions in my opinion will only serve to strengthen our churches as they seek to honor Christ and reach the nations for His fame.  The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force met last night to share their progress and recommendations to the Executive Committee of the SBC.  If you are interested in what they reported, you can find the video here and the written transcript here.

Wherever you stand and whatever your feelings may be, let us join together praying that Christ will be exalted, unity will be embraced, and that others will know Christ.

"I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!" Psalms 57:9-11

In my previous post, I referred to the connection between worship and missions.  Continuing in this amazing Psalm, the connection is taken to a different level:

 "For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!" Psalms 96:5-7

We are all worshipers.  Yet because of our sinful nature, we naturally seek to worship something other than the one true God (Romans 1:19-23).  Those who have not placed their faith in Christ are following a make-shift god. Yet for me, one of the key words in this verse is the word "worthless."

False gods make false promises.  Not once can they fulfill.  Millions are devoted to sham theology that will leave them empty-handed in the end.  The thought of this is overwhelming if we will simply let it sink in.

That is where verses six and seven come in.  Though the gods of the nations are worthless, the Lord is full of splendor, majesty, strength, and beauty.  He never makes a promise that will not be kept.  He can satisfy like nothing else.  He is our fullness of joy and delight.  In His hand is both safety and security.

Psalm 96 drives us to missions because we have experienced the one true God to whom none can begin to compare.  And this experience does not drive us to selfishness.  On the contrary, it compels us to go to those who are seeking the same fulfillment in a facade.  Let us go to the nations with good news!