Eyes on the Harvest–Part 2

The following is a continuation of an excerpt taken from the chapter entitled ‘Eyes on the Harvest’ from Wayne Cordeiro’s book “Jesus: Pure & Simple”.

Stay Near the Door

In the early part of the twentieth century, the Reverend Samuel Shoemaker was known as one of the ten greatest preachers in America. He was rector of the Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church in New York in the 1920’s and later the rector of the Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh. He was also one of the spiritual leaders who helped draft the original Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and was a spiritual teacher to Bill Wilson, AA’s co-founder.

Those who knew Shoemaker best described how his entire life was dedicated to showing people how to find God. He penned several versions of a poem titled “So I Stay Near the Door,” which begins:

I stay near the door.

I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out.

He was speaking of the door to a relationship with God, and his aim was to be where he could show others the way. That’s the key for us as well – to stay near to where people are receiving Christ.

Stay near the door.

There’s Always One in the Crowd

It was a busy day and the arrival of the miracle worker had people lining the street as if it were a Fourth of July parade. Mark 5 records the event with a focus on one woman caught in the press of the crowd. In the middle of the jumble, Jesus stopped and asked, “Who touched Me?”

The disciples were confused. “Who touched you?” they answered. “We are being pressed on all sides by humanity! It’s a madhouse! Everybody’s bumping into You!” “No,” Jesus replied. “Somebody touched Me.”

I can see the disciples shaking their heads. They were stifled by the crowds and stumped by His question. “I felt the power go out of Me.”

Just then, a woman fell down before Him and admitted that she had reached out and touched the hem of His garment. Quickly she explained that for many years she had suffered from an affliction. Worn and depleted, she had pinned all her hopes on the mercy of the miracle worker. Jesus stopped the parade and said, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well” (see Mark 5:25-32).

There’s a difference between bumping into Jesus and touching Him. And for Jesus, that will stop the parade. He took the time to recognize that touch among the hundreds of bumps, and paused to bring healing to this woman who came knocking.

There will be many who are bumping into Jesus each weekend, but there may be only one or two that are reaching for help.

Stay near the door.

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Eyes on the Harvest–Part 1

The following excerpt is taken from the chapter entitled ‘Eyes on the Harvest’ from Wayne Cordeiro’s book “Jesus: Pure & Simple”.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.

Matthew 9:37-38 

After sharing about his granddaughters unfocused prayers and the fact that the author needs to guide her prayers, Wayne goes on to say that ‘Jesus guides our prayers too. The disciples once said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). I wouldn’t mind taking a prayer seminar taught by the Master. We still can.

Slip into one of the seminars the disciples were attending. You can hear Him instruct them on how to pray. “Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. The harvest is ready but the labourers are not.” (see Matthew 9:37-38).

I wonder how many prayers of mine Jesus has answered. A hundred? A thousand? Maybe it’s time we answered just one of His.

Consider this chapter an invitation to regain focus. It’s a call to get our eyes back on Jesus and the things He cared about, to get our eyes back on the harvest. I’ll bet most of us pray often for our own needs, but consider this a divine request to pray for others’ greatest need: salvation.

Pretty simple. Let Him guide your prayers. Otherwise you may be praying for dogs, cats, and cars. 

Jesus always had His eyes on the harvest. He didn’t pray for more money, fewer problems, or bigger houses very often. Reading the Bible, I notice that He didn’t pray for more friends, more prominence, or more blessings. He never told the disciples to pray for a problem-free life, a fat retirement account, or a pin-striped donkey that would get them down the road faster and in style.

In Luke 10, Jesus told His disciples to pray fervently for labourers who had their eyes on the harvest. That same directive is ours.

It’s easy to lose focus in a … church. Weekend services just seem to happen on cue, and programmes appear to take place automatically without much prompting. The lights come on, people sing songs and play instruments that just happen to be in tune, and they seem to play in rhythm… usually. The preacher comes up with an encouraging sermon and the right Scriptures just materialise on the screens. We pray for God’s blessings and after a rousing final chorus, we leave for lunch, inspired to face another week at work.

We punched our spiritual time cards, and we motor onward in our daily lives. But we forgot our assignment.

The weekend service was not an end. It was a means to partner with one another in our attempts to reach our families and friends for Christ. It’s not just about Jesus working in us. It’s also about Jesus working through us.

You never determine the size of a church by how many are in it. You measure its size by how many are still outside of its doors.’

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Eyes on the Harvest–Introduction

As I’ve been preparing my message each week I’ve become increasingly aware that each sermon relates not only to what others are utilising for prayer devotions for our weekly Sunday prayer meetings, but also illustrations that become apparent each week through what people in our congregation are going through in life… Coincidence – I think not!

My own reading, both biblically and through the two or three books that I currently have on the go, has had a definite focus on keeping our eyes open for what God has in store for us. As Matthew 9 says; ‘The harvest is plentiful…’ But are our eyes on the harvest or are we merely waiting for God to bless us?

Over the next few weeks I’m going to share through this blog what Wayne Cordeiro has to say about keeping our eyes on the harvest from his book “Jesus: Pure & Simple”.

In it the author shares how to focus on the One who matters most and take part in the joy and fulfillment that He brings. When we focus on Christ, everything else falls into place. Your relationships. Your job. Your church. Your mission.

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Food for thought…

Did you know that more than 80 percent of those who call themselves Christians read their Bibles only once a week? And that’s usually on Sundays, at church. They come to church to get their spiritual fill, and then snack on devotional tidbits for the rest of the week (if we’re lucky). Food for thought…

The following excerpt is from ‘The Divine Mentor’ by Wayne Cordeiro. It left me wondering how the church is faring in the whole area of discipleship, life groups and Bible Reading; as well as how well am I doing in this area personally…  

“What would the people in your church look like if they snacked on meager food morsels during the week and ate only one good meal on the weekend? You know the answer, don’t you? You’d find yourself surrounded by emanciated, gaunt people in desperate need of nutrition.

And how would these undernourished believers fare against a demonic adversary? Can you imagine how this army would look? You’d see threadbare skeletons with hollow cheeks and sunken eye-sockets, lined up like phantoms. Weakened by famine, that shriveled militia could barely stand at attention; each would struggle to find strength to keep his or her bony frame upright.

Could this ‘army’ conquer an opposing foe? No way. No earthly general would send them out to fight.

Well, then, how about the army of the Lord? What of those who gather on Sunday mornings? Are they spiritually nourished to fight the battles ahead? Considering what most members of God’s army subsist on – an occasional tidy snack from a devotional book and perhaps an average-sized meal on Sundays to satiate conscience – you’d have to conclude that God’s fighting force has some serious training to do.”

This is something that we all need to start looking at seriously; both individually and congregationally as we grow in our faith. Especially when we consider that the Word of God is food for our souls.

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The Divine Mentor

In the past few years or so while on holiday I’ve noticed a rather fascinating change that has taken place in my psyche. I enjoy time alone in God’s Word and reading books from Christian authors about how I can be everything that God wants me to be, and how I can continue to lead His church into the future. One such book that I am devouring at an extraordinary rate is “The Divine Mentor” by Wayne Cordeiro.

I’m sure that all of us would “enjoy a dynamic, vital, and intimate relationship with God”  Wayne  invites us to “embark on an adventure that will introduce you to His handpicked mentors, men and women who may save your marriage, your ministry, and your future”  as you “develop a lifelong habit… that will preserve your soul, establish your legacy, and hold God’s Living Word inside you.”  But it will require effort, determination and perseverance amid the pressures of life and the demands on our time.

When talking about reading your Bible on a daily basis (which many so called mature Christians don’t do) utilising a good daily reading plan and you miss a day or two don’t beat yourself up… “Don’t give up!” Wayne explains. “We can all remember times when we’ve been so engrossed in a project that we skipped breakfast and then worked right through lunch. By three or four in the afternoon your hunger begins to scratch at the insides of your stomach. Just then, your remember you’ve forgotten two meals! What do you do – what’s your response? You wouldn’t say,… ‘I’m not eating anymore.’… Of course not! You’d look forward all the more to dinner… Remember, you’re feeding yourself spiritually. So if you’ve missed a couple of meals, just eat for that day. Feed yourself, and then keep going. And when you have opportunity, try to pick up what you missed.”

A great reading plan that I have used in the past is the E100 Bible Reading Plan, or another one is the follow up Essential Jesus Reading Plan. If you can – get a group together to discuss on a weekly basis what you have learnt and to keep you accountable to “growing your faith as you sit at the feet of the Saviour.”

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The Leadership Challenge: Are we forgetting who we are?

I know it’s been a while since I have done a post on “The Leadership Challenge” – time seems to get away on us all lately and time seems to be flashing by at a staggering rate of speed. It is almost June and I’ve barely got my head around all the challenges that a new appointment brings: We’ve just relocated Community Ministries because of some building issues that we faced upon our arrival and we will soon be starting to move one of our Family Stores into a much bigger premise.

However, I’ve also been doing a spot of reading and I have just started reading Wayne Cordeiro’s book ‘Jesus: Pure & Simple’ and a segment stood out to me which I think is highly appropriate for those in leadership and working for the Salvation Army.

“Jesus knew His calling; He had to be about His Father’s business. It transcended everything else: His carpentry, His friendships, even His parents’ expectations.

It’s easy to get our callings mixed up with our careers. The latter often overshadows the former, and for some, it can take a lifetime to balance out. I recall hearing an old saying that still holds true today: ‘Your career is what you’re paid for. Your calling is what you’re made for.’ Forgetting who we are or measuring who we are with wrong metrics will cause us to lose not only our purpose but also our identity…

As Christ-followers, we can easily end up being what I call ‘Christian chameleons’ – we blend into whatever background we happen to be a part of, and it camouflages who we really are. We all fight the tendency to get sucked into the vortex of the world. Eloquent pastors trade in their callings for career paths that will lead to a greater following. A question I must always ask myself is, ‘When all is said and done, will they see more of Jesus or more of me?’

Rather than our careers, families, athletic teams, clubs, or hobbies, we must primarily be about our Father’s interests while on this earth.”

The International Mission Statement of The Salvation Army states that we are an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by love for God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in his name without discrimination.

Ask anyone on the street what they know about The Salvation Army and they will comment on the fact that we are well known for our Family Stores, Foodbanks and Community Ministries, our Social Programmes and for the works that we do in times of crisis. We seem to be more about the works that we do, rather than the faith that we exhibit. It would appear that we do the work of the mission (meeting human needs) and some how the faith that backs this up is pailing into insignificance.

So when we do the work of our mission do we keep (faith) this at the forefront of what we do or do we slip it in to our conversations at some stage (if at all). Are all our ministries connected to the local expression of the Salvation Army or do they have a shield on the building so that they can utilise the power of the brand…

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