Rekindle The Dream!
As my wife and I remember our conversions almost twenty years ago, we think of the extreme sacrifices that disciples made for the mission of evangelizing the world. Many disciples sold cars, clothing, valuable collectibles, and even wedding rings because they had a dream to see the evangelization of this world in our generation. We reflect on the joy of our past sacrifices as we strive to revive our own hearts for the mission. My wife, Elizabeth, sold thousands of dollars of artwork for missions. I remember the dance performances I did to raise money for African plantings. We remember the life sacrifices we made as well: preaching on the subway, going street-to-street, and door-to-door evangelizing. Even though my wife was an art director (a sixty to eighty hour a week job!) with a 3-hour commute every day, she always made it to midweek service. We remember the all night prayer times, the week-long fasts, the urgency we had for a lost world. We remember studying the Bible with people all night and baptizing them at 4 am, because tomorrow was not promised to them.
We remember the miraculous church plantings: Russia, Africa, the Middle East, Japan, China, and the list goes on and on!!! We remind ourselves often that we were the fruit of the dream to evangelize New York City! How grateful we are that a mission team of 18 people moved to New York City with a dream on their heart! We remember our fellow disciples moving across the world with one suitcase and a dream. Every disciple has memories of the many sacrifices they have made over the years.
Is your heart rekindled? Is there a spark of excitement and hope or dull embers of resentment and bitterness? Do you regret and resent the sacrifices you made in the past? Five years ago, I questioned whether my sacrifices were worth it. After wrestling in prayer, I realized two important points. Firstly, the Kingdom is made up of sinful men, including myself, and we must practice forgiveness to remain a healthy, functioning, purified body. Secondly, I realized that God and only God is perfect, and it is by His grace that He allows us to be the body of Christ, the church. God has purified our hearts and his church through his discipline over the last five years. Shouldn’t we show our gratitude by keeping his church purified by loving and forgiving one another? When we hold grudges, bitterness and resentment against one another, aren’t we bringing judgment on ourselves? Matthew 6:14 states, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” We will also cease to bear fruit if our hearts are not purified. Are you protecting your heart, your life, your time, or your bank account? Haggai 1:8-9 reads, “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty? “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house.“ As in the days of Haggai, I have witnessed many of God’s chosen people compromise their relationship with God and drift back into selfishness, materialism, lukewarmness and begin to focus on their own homes. As this has happened, Gods church has been neglected. In this Scripture, God allowed blessings to be withheld so God’s people would turn back to Him, sacrificing to build His house again. Brothers and sisters, when you get to heaven and see the faces of those you converted or influenced by your sacrifice, you will know it was worth it!
Our work in the new movement has just begun! What is your dream? Is your dream to convert a city, your hometown, your neighborhood, your coworker, your children or your family? Or maybe your dream is to help restore to God those who have fallen away or wandered away from Him. Every disciple needs a dream, young and old! Ray Kroc started the first McDonalds when he was in his 50s. He dreamed of having 1,000 McDonalds around the U.S. and he saw his dream fulfilled when he was 66 years young! Colonel Sanders was living off his $105 a month social security check when he started building his Kentucky Fried Chicken enterprise. Moses was 80 years old when he led 3.5 million people out of Egypt into the Promised Land. With a fixedness of purpose, coupled with a steadiness of faith, we can do anything that God has set our hearts to do! “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
Do you believe that? Many disciples have stopped believing that the whole world can be evangelized. Matthew 28:18-20 reads, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Let’s not stop sharing our faith, reading the Bible, seeking advice, allowing our brothers and sisters to help us spiritually! Let’s not give Satan the victory by giving in to lukewarmness! (Revelation 3:14-16) “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.“ (Hebrews 10:39)
St. Augustine once said, “Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.” Let us rekindle our urgency for the lost world, remembering the dreamer’s spirit and faith we had at first.
Anthony Eckels
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