Author: missionspaul

Across this whole world of ours billions are saying these 2 words today, ‘Happy Christmas!’

I pray it may be so for you.

Wherever you are right now, in the furthest corner of the world, ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands” and He’s got you!

Jesus instructs his disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28 v 19)

To disciple an ethnos (nations) means to transform the existing culture into a new culture of God’s kingdom. Where do you live? The home? The neighbourhood? Who is round your Christmas table today?

Every tribe has its own language, rules of practice, location and most hate other tribes and outsiders.

Today of all days the fact that Jesus came into this world is the greatest sign that we should also go into our world. Today find some time to commit to doing so from this moment on. That you too can be incarnated into your world. Or maybe Jesus will send you beyond your world into another unknown place to you.

Who is God calling you to reach?

Focus on specific people groups, not just geographic areas, ethnic groups, not political countries. A group that is bound together by a common culture, language, values, socio-economic or ethnic identity. Target un-evangelised and under-evangelised groups where there are no Christian witness present, or no indigenous Christian community within that group of sufficient size to complete the task of evangelising that group without outside assistance. What about the Samaritans? The people you might prefer not to work among but who very much need to know about Jesus; people who may live near you but who are culturally very distinct from you. Give special attention to the hidden people groups who are isolated and hidden from other groups living nearby.

Why?

Because it’s Christmas!

I met a Pastor this week. She’s not qualified in the sight of authorities, she’s not a Reverend, she’s not been to Bible College but God is using her to build a church and she is doing really well at it! She is passionate, committed and is throwing her whole life into the work of God. She is a joy and a walking lesson for many a Pastor! During the conversation she said that her biggest givers and participants were those who were not Christians yet. Those who were following her had not yet professed Christ. Isn’t that refreshing?! Disciples on the path to their conversion.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28 v 19)

Jesus tells his disciples to GO.

This letter was written by Southern Baptist Missionary to Iraq, Karen Watson, prior to leaving for the Middle East. The letter was dated March 7, 2003. Karen was killed, along with four other missionaries, on March 15, 2004.

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger:

You should only be opening this letter in the event of my death.

When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn’t called to a place. I was called to him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, his glory my reward, his glory my reward.

One of the most important things to remember right now is to preserve the work….I am writing this as if I am still working with my people group.

I thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Surely your reward in heaven will be great. Thank you for investing in my life and spiritual well-being. Keep sending missionaries out. Keep raising up fine young pastors.

In regards to any service, keep it small and simple. Yes, simply, just preach the gospel….Be bold and preach the life-saving, life-changing, forever-eternal gospel. Give glory and honor to our Father.

The Missionary Heart:

Care more than some think is wise.

Risk more than some think is safe.

Dream more than some think is practical.

Expect more than some think is possible.

I was called not to comfort or success but to obedience….There is no joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving him. I love you two and my church family.

In his care,

Salaam, Karen

To make disciples it may cost you your whole life as with Karen or it will cost you the kind of life you could have chosen, like my Pastor friend.

The disciple of Jesus loves to invest, they know what it is to pour out their life, they coach, mentor, demonstrate, ‘do what I do’ to others.

We must carry on where Jesus has left. Let your “do” and your “teach” match together. It is your calling. This is what it is to make disciples.

Think about what happens after you have gone. What have you left behind? Is there anyone going to carry on what you are doing? Is there anyone who is speaking the language of love that you speak? Or does everything die when you die?

There are things in you that need to be revealed. You operate out of these beliefs, values and goals. There is a hidden DNA in you that people only see the benefit of. Reveal what is hidden. What is most important in life? How do you do what you do? Why do you say what you say?

Don’t pass on all that is in you to people who will not do anything with it. Give it to those who will also follow. Give to people who will go further than you and do and say more than you. Build a legacy that reaches far and beyond you would ever possibly achieve on your own.

Look not through the eyes of man. Look at potential. Look for the willing. Look for those who will follow. Find some people. Choose someone.

There will come a day when you will no longer be here, you will have been taken to heaven. Until that day carry on. Until that day do the work. Until that day speak up and speak out. For when that ‘day’ comes then your opportunity will be gone. But your work will carry on.

The disciple makes disciples who make disciples. Are you that disciple? Are you that Pastor or that missionary who both know what it is to lay their life down?

Their relationship with their mother was estranged. They knew she had come from a wealthy background but it had made no impact on the lives of brothers Geza and Zslot Peladi. They literally lived in a cave near Budapest for many years selling scrap metal to survive.

But then in 2009 everything changed. Charity workers tracked them down and informed the brothers that they had inherited a substantial portion of their late maternal grandmother’s $6.6 billion fortune. And just like that, two destitute brothers, should they want to, could call a castle their home when all they had ever known was a cave.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  (Matthew 28 v 18)

How many of us live like we are in a cave when the castle is our home?

How many of us struggle under the weight of sin even though the Redeemer has paid the price and we are forgiven?

How many of us have minds burdened by the unkindness of others, the social media lies and we have no mental space to meditate on God?

All authority. That is who we are following.

All authority. That is who is inside our lives.

All authority. That is who is on our lips.

He is the Ancient of Days, the Creator, with the Father and nothing was made that has been made without Him.

He was given authority, and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed (Daniel 7)

We cannot contain Him to a time and a place and a nation. We cannot hold on to Him, He is beyond our grasp, we cannot understand all that there is to know about Him, He is beyond our capability to think. He is pre-existent, before Abraham was born, I am!

The Jews saw only the historical manifestation and not the eternal person.

Jesus did not begin 2000 years ago, that was just when the incarnation took place. He had no beginning. He was before beginning. Because of this we can say He has seen it all and He knows it all.

There have been no accidents in your life, neither your birth, nor your death, nor anything in between. He knows the beginning and the end for each one of us.

We can invite Jesus into our existence – but there is a far greater invitation. An invitation for us to live our lives in His pre-existence.

Come out of the cave and move into the castle.

Let us walk in the authority given by God. The heaven sent confidence that we are on earth to do His purposes. We are not controlled by any other force whether by man and their hidden agendas or by the evil one with the attacks of fear and doubt. No one can take this authority it belongs to God. It can be wasted and given away but not robbed.

No one has greater authority than Jesus.

No one can move you. I know who I am because I know who He is and what He wants for me.

No one can shake you. Psalm 62:2 “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.”

No one can take your joy. John 16:22 “no one will take away your joy.”

No one can take you from the Lord. John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

No one has the right over you, they can change your circumstance perhaps, they can attack you, but no one can move you from your freedom to choose Him and to remain in Him. No one.

Your place is the castle not the cave.

Here comes what appears to be a disappointing verse:-

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said … (Matthew 28 v 17-18)

The disappointing word of course is ‘doubted’, it is the English word for distázō.

‘They’ were the Eleven. But who were the ‘some’? This has led to so many views and I am sure many have greater thoughts on this than me today. However, what I know about myself is there are many times when I have been in that same place. I have been on my knees, hands in the air, worshipping the resurrected King.

That has been my position, my stance.

But equally I have had times when I would describe my position as a ‘double-stance’ (and that is what the word means).

I have been shifting between two positions, uncertain and so stuck in the middle.

So here’s the point:-

From a distance some worshipped and some shifted between positions of worship/belief and uncertainty. “Then (and let me add the words ‘and so’) Jesus came to them …”

His coming to them effects them, orientates them, commands them and gives them purpose. That’s what the presence of the Lord does even today.

The Great Commission moved them from the uncertainty of who He was, what He had done, who they were and what they should do now to the significance of living in His resurrection. His move to them would bring authority, the vision and their mission strategy and also the promise of His presence continually.

Some days we find ourselves unable to worship from a distance.

There are many today waking to uncertainty for so many reasons.

Jesus come to them by the power of your Spirit.

Move closer.

Let your presence envelop.

Speak words of purpose and direction.

Amen.

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.” (Matthew 28 v 16)

Do you see it? Do you see what is wrong with this verse?

It is the first time Matthew records it.

Eleven.

Judas has betrayed Jesus and has hanged himself.

The Twelve are no more.

The pain of seeing a loved one die; or a lover not love you anymore; a friend who walks away to another friend; we know this. Yesterday I spoke with a Pastor who felt like he had been stabbed in the back. He had been. The Twelve are eleven.

This band of brothers have denied, deserted their rabbi and are now on their way to that place.

Do you have a place, a room, your designated space away from it all?
When the last few weeks have been a whirlwind.
When you have denied, failed and run away from your Lord.
When you have become confused and cannot explain what has just recently happened.
When God has spoken to you and directed you but still you really don’t know what He is saying.
When you have no idea of the future.
When you cannot explain what is going on in your life.
Have you got somewhere to go to?
They knew the mountain. Amongst all the mountains around the Sea of Galilee they knew the one he was going to meet them on.

Jesus is about to commission them into the whole world but before he does that he needs to position them away from their defeat.

Today, whatever has happened to you, perhaps you feel a sense of injustice, life is unfair. Maybe you feel a failure.

Jesus would have you to go to a place, a chair, a room, a map, a hill overlooking your town and city, there is a place where the important person isn’t you. Where you can look over your Galilee and see how God has used you before and you can see the transformation of people’s lives that He has done. In that position He is preparing you to go again and realise that this life isn’t about you or what you gain or about the people you keep. They are all temporary. This life is about you following Christ and what He has done before He will do again. So get ready for your commissioning is here. Find that place again.

The conspiracy theory on what happened to Jesus runs alongside the truth of the resurrection right to this day. Matthew is writing his gospel approximately 30 years after the events and running alongside the Church’s presentation of the good news of Jesus is this conspiracy of the stolen body. Even today amongst the Jews and especially Islam they believe that either Jesus never died on the cross or that this happened …

“While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. (Matthew 28 v 11-15)

The problem is no one has ever been able to find the body of Jesus!

Conspiracy theories are often easier to believe than the truth. To believe the truth then often that means you will personally be impacted in a way that is demanding of you. (If Jesus was resurrected then I was wrong about him not being the Messiah).

Conspiracy theories have to explain away compelling evidence and that takes faith. Some of the guards go and tell the religious leaders what had happened: the earthquake, the stone moved, the appearance of a brilliant light (angel) and the empty tomb. So it may be easier because it is less demanding however it is still asking for faith to turn away from the truth.

Conspiracy theories are founded on a position that must not be moved. The religious leaders have maintained throughout the last few years that Jesus ministry was satanically led. This is unmovable. They cannot be wrong for if they are then their position not just their belief is removed.

Conspiracy theories are risky. If the soldiers had truly fallen asleep then they are in danger of losing their own life (Acts 12:19). The religious leaders convinced them that that once again they could turn Pilate away from any judgment as they had done with Jesus. The leaders had a hold over the soldiers.

Conspiracy theories have holes. If the soldiers were asleep how do they know the disciples stole the body? These same disciples who had deserted Jesus had now come back to risk their life in breaking through the Roman guard, really?

Conspiracy theories are a fight for control. Those who have the power. Those who are in control. Those who call the shots. Those who have the titles. They don’t like it when the cultural atmosphere changes. They don’t want to lose their hold over others. They don’t want to be ordinary. They don’t want to be humbled.
From the virgin birth to the resurrection many will say it didn’t happen and for those who say it did, well, they just may face opposition from those who face losing the most if it is true.
If this is true then how does it affect me?
The story of Jesus challenges some, it is more than a story, it is a game-changer. Some will throw the board-game in the air if they don’t get their own way.
Christmas and Easter, the highlights of that story can be difficult times for those re-telling it and for those who feel they are more important than they actually are.

Conspiracists are still with us.

Ever heard that? Ever said it? ‘I told you so!’

Things Jesus didn’t say!

“Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” (Matthew 28 v 9-10)

Jesus didn’t call the disciples ‘failures’ or ‘deserters’ though that is what they had done.

We are flawed but we are ‘brothers and sisters’ of Jesus.

Today across the world Christmas services will be held. People will be attending that perhaps don’t usually go to church. The prayer for today will be that they will meet Jesus, they will hear Jesus, they will worship Jesus, they will obey Jesus and they will be brought into the family of Jesus. No matter who they are or what they have done … brothers … sisters.

“Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” (Hebrews 2 v 11)

Jesus who knows everything about us is not ashamed to call us brother or sister.

“Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).

So I’m not going to chastise you or shame you. I will reiterate the angelic message to obey. Here is your commission, ‘Go’ and in doing so you will go as my sibling.

“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” (Matthew 28 v 8)

The soldiers had shook with fear and fell to the ground like they were dead. These women were also afraid but there was a difference. Joy had filled their hearts. At His birth there was fear and joy, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2: 9-10) Fear and joy at His birth and here at His resurrection. Whether at Christmas or Easter are we afraid yet filled with joy? Or have we become mild, quiet, respectable Christians? Has the Good News become just news? Where is the wonder?
God is frightening as thick clouds of darkness; He is a consuming fire; He causes the earth to shake by His lightning strikes; He forces mountains to shrink like burning wax (Psalm 97). Bear this in mind as you worship Him today. Or have we lost something?
Missionaries were showing the ‘Jesus’ film to a tribe in East Asia who had never heard of Him and had never seen a film.
Imagine again how it felt to see this good man, Jesus, who healed the sick and was adored by children, held without trial and beaten by jeering soldiers. Then came the crucifixion. The people could not hold back. They began to weep and wail with such loud grief that the film had to be stopped. The missionaries tried to calm them, explaining that the story wasn’t over; there was more. Then came the resurrection. Pandemonium broke out this time, but for a different reason. The gathering had spontaneously erupted into a party. The noise now was of jubilation, and it was deafening. The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back.
The missionary had to shut off the projector; this time he didn’t tell them to calm down and wait for what was next. All that was supposed to happen—in the story and in their lives—was happening.
(Ben Patterson, “Resurrection and Pandemonium,” LeadershipJournal.net)

May our hearts be filled with fear and joy as we go tell people of the life of God through Jesus!

“Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28 v 7)

Jesus had told them they would see him in Galilee, “after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matthew 26 v 32)

Throughout Galilee Jesus had driven out demons, healed and transformed people’s lives. The disciples were with him throughout. They had seen his ministry to, “the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16).

On reading and memorising these Scriptures the disciples would have realised that Jesus was the great light, he was the dawn for a dark land and he had come for the Galilee of the Gentiles.

Jesus had put down roots in Galilee, living in Capernaum. They had God on their streets, in their shops, in their synagogue and homes. God was there talking, laughing, in power performing miracles of healing and transformation.

The disciples would return to Jerusalem for the ascension on the Mount of Olives (Matthew doesn’t record this) but there is the assumption here that they know exactly where to go in Galilee. They were heading for a mountain (v16) though we are not told which one and so others speculate which one. But Jesus wants them in Galilee and it is all for the preparation of their commission to the world.

Jesus wants them to look again. To see what has happened, what he did amongst them, the testimonies of changed lives. They had to walk through again the moments of Jesus’ ministry. The teaching in the fields, in homes packed with people, in the tension of the synagogues.

We too need to look again. Perhaps even today. Look over your Galilee. What did Jesus teach you? What has Jesus shown you? Why does Jesus want you to look again? Why does Jesus want to meet you in the middle of all that again? What is He trying to teach you now about where your focus should be?

The very worst is not.

This central message for the follower of Christ is that it is never as bad as it looks.

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28 v 5-6)

‘Jesus who was crucified’ …. What does that look like?

Defeated, silent, dead, grave, finished?

That’s what the women had thought.

But that day the angel said something different.

“…who was…he has…”A collision of understanding.

Jesus the Crucified One is not in that position, that state and not in that place.

Don’t write the dead off.

All that they were hoping for was to enter a tomb, but on that day they entered a resurrection experience!

The women had come to the tomb to honour the past, to share their memories of what had been and what could have been. Their walk was a walk of defeat.

But with God the very worst is not.