The Joy of the Kingdom

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The Great Commission. Neither the words "great" nor "commission" are in the biblical text. Every Christian has an opportunity to participate in fulfillment of Jesus last command. From the beginning of my conversion, I thought that I should get a passport stamped and travel to share Christ's command in foreign nations.Most people who follow Jesus in the Great Commission do so by supporting their local church, reaching non-Christians where they are located.The apostle Paul reported in Romans 15:19, "From Jerusalem to Illyricum I fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ." Paul did not preach to everyone from Jerusalem to Illyricum. This geographical region of the world was a vast area. Nobody could ever travel to every place. It has taken me 22 years just to complete my ministry to the communities in Nebraska. Paul did not have the technology was not that Paul had technology to share his passion with every single city. This was his dream, his vision.For one thing Paul established churches. Paul considered his part in the Great Commission was fulfilled when the local churches were solidly planted. He had preached in the major communities between the two geographical cities on the way. Whenever Paul planted a church, that body of Christ accepted the responsibility for sharing the faith in the region surrounding it.A church is not healthy unless specific attention is given to Great Commission. We who are called must redefine success so that it includes church planting. For a local congregation to have life, it must exist for ventures outside of itself. Sometimes our huge mega churches refuse to reproduce themselves. They do not want to pay the cost involved.Too many churches enjoy numerical growth simply from Christians transferring from one church to another.Churches are struggling to change how they do evangelism. Faith-Sharing by Eddie Fox and George Morris, Pastoral Evangelism by Samuel Southard, Proclaiming the Great Commission by Claude Payne and Hamilton Beasley, and Unbinding the Gospel by Martha Reese are insightful books. Conversion and evangelism have been misunderstood. Churches are unable to reach individuals not socialized in the Christian faith by family members or with attendance in the education and worship provided.The landscape of most communities has move from Christian to post-Christian. This book is an attempt to reassess the adequacy of outreach practices. There is an urgent need to reevaluate how churches conceive the conversion process. They need to understand the sociological spaces their vision of faith has established. Insights are needed that equips the now dying congregations to reach people from new strategies and a broad spectrum.