Evangelism

I first felt the call to ministry in the 9th grade. In the 9th grade we were given a project. What do you want to do for life and do you plan to retire? I began thinking about this. My dad works with computers for a living. His degree is in computer science. So I thought maybe that's what I wanted to do. But I got a deep impression. "Be an evangelist." I thought about a few other occupations. But every time I got the same impression. "Be an evangelist."

So I went to school for Theology. I got my B.A. in said degree with a minor in Biblical Languages. Towards the end of my schooling, I had to write a philosophy of pastoral ministry as an assignment for a class. And so I did. A very good friend mentioned to me that I would make a good counselor. In my philosophy, I wrote that I wanted to get a master's in counseling so I could counsel the members of a church I may pastor someday.

As a consequence the staff of the college I went to felt that I was not 100% for pastoral ministry. And because of that, I was not allowed to interview with the conference presidents when they came down to interview the soon to be Theology graduates. Please keep in mind that I don't tell you this to get back at them. That is why I won't mention where I went to school.

For a while I would get upset and even bitter when I thought of it. But this next quarter of the year, our Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath School lesson is on evangelism and witnessing. And God made me realize something.

I don't need to be taking a paycheck from the church to be in the ministry. I don't need to be hired to be an evangelist or a pastor. If God has called you to be a pastor, you are a pastor. If God has called you to be an evangelist, you are an evangelist. Whatever He calls you to be, you don't need anyone else to agree with God's calling for you. If He says you are called, you are called. And we are all called to reach out to those around us with the love of Jesus.

I don't get upset anymore. I'm no longer bitter about it. God has something in store for me. 

Check this out.

Ephesians 4:11 says, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;"

 Check out the different meanings for "evangelist." Awesome. I will try to write more on evangelism as we go through this quarter of Sabbath School lessons on this subject.

For now, I leave you with this thought. If God calls you to something, do it. It may be that He wants you to do it in a way that is out of the norm.

The End Times

The end times is a topic that is not discussed often enough. We are in the last days of earth's history. Jesus talked about the end times in Matthew 24. In verse 3 to 14 (NKJV) says this:

³ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,  and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.
⁹ “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus had just prophesied the destruction of the temple in the verses prior to this, verses 1 & 2. His disciples came to Him and wanted to know when it would happen and when the "end of the age" would come. Read the passage from Matthew again.

The first thing Jesus replied with was, "Take heed that no one deceives you." He warned them that many false teachers and false prophets would come in His name, claiming to be Christ Himself. And indeed, many have done so over the years. And unfortunately, many have been deceived. This is why it is extremely important for us to know the Bible backward and forward. But more importantly, this is why it is extremely important for us to know the Author of the Bible better than we know anything else. Jesus said in John 6:37, NKJV, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." Come to Jesus. He will not turn you away.

Check out the "wars and rumors of wars." How many wars have we had in our history as a planet? How many wars have we had in our histories as individual countries. As the beloved hymn, Lift Up The Trumpet says, "Nations are angry, by this we do know, Jesus is coming again!" The United States of America has been at war with Iraq and various terrorists for going on ten years now. Things are heating up in the Middle East region. And things are about to heat up to the explosion point very soon.

Famines are everywhere. Droughts are everywhere, too. Earthquakes are occurring now where they didn't used to occur, and they are happening much more frequently in places where they did happen often. Some people blame this on oil drilling, which, to a certain extent, may not be helping things. But think about it. Texas is getting earth quakes. Oklahoma is getting earthquakes. These are regions that hardly every got them. How many have we had this year in just these two states? I've lost count.

People are also being persecuted for their faith in Jesus and their refusal to give up that faith. In a previous blog post I told you about a Pastor in Iran that was sentenced to death for being a Christian or for converting to Christianity. This is considered apostasy by the Islam faith. As of October 1, 2011, he is still alive.

There are countless other Christians in the world who face persecution and threats of death if they don't repent. Jesus said in John 16:33, NKJV, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Jesus has overcome the world. Take heart. It will get rough in these last days. It certainly won't be easy. But Jesus promised that those who endure to the end will be saved. Take the hand of Jesus and be saved.

Click on the highlighted link to read this piece by Ellen G White called, Perils of This Time. It's about the end times.