Time is Full Once Again

by Matthew Ellison

Galatians 4: 4,5 (KJV) "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." 

Over 2,000 years ago when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son.  His sovereign preparation had paved the way for the arrival of the Savior.  Pax Romana, brought Roman Roads and Roman peace.  From history's view point the Roman Empire itself had prepared the world for the Gospel.  An amazing road system connected city with city and all cities ultimately with Rome.  This trade, travel, and information highway was used to proliferate the Gospel throughout the world's population centers. There was one dominant language: Koine Greek.  Its descriptiveness made it perfect for writing the Scriptures, but it was also spoken and read by almost everyone.  There were Hungry Hearts; world religions had failed to meet the ache of men's hearts.  These and other circumstances were the backdrops that lead to a massive spread of the Gospel.  God shouted into History.
 
Time is full once again and a massive spread of the Gospel is underway...God has engineered extraordinary circumstances and supplied His people with critical Great Commission resources: technology, globalization, world-wide travel capabilities, churches everywhere taking ownership of the Great Commission rediscovering their ultimate purpose to Treasure Christ and to make Him Known, a focus on targeting and reaching unreached peoples, a growing unity leading to unprecedented partnerships among churches and missions organizations...and this is only the beginning.  God is preparing to Shout Into History once again.   Or to borrow from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  

"Aslan is preparing to roar...you might want to cover your ears."

For more information on how 16:15 can help unleash your church's potential to reach the nations, call to talk with a Church Coach at 505-248-1615 or email info@1615.org

Unleashing Every Believer

by Matthew Ellison

God is doing a new thing in local churches across America and around the world.  For a long time many churches have primarily engaged in world missions in a support role, limiting their participation to sending money and people through mission organizations.  As a result, missions was often relegated to a few missions minded folks in or outside the church.  But now, church leaders everywhere are rediscovering the ultimate purpose of the church and are therefore making the Great Commission the centerpiece of their church’s calling under God’s glory.  Church-wide involvement in missions is now being favored over independent activity; opportunities now abound for Every Believer to be unleashed to help fulfill the Great Commission, rather than just the missionary.

Every Believer should be engaged in world missions because our God is without a doubt, a missionary God.  From cover to cover, God’s amazing plan to make His glory known among all nations, tribes and tongues is clearly enunciated in Scripture.  Missions is unmistakably central to God’s thinking and activity.  Therefore, if we want to be like God, we must not marginalize that which is central to Him.  This doesn’t mean that we are all called to go, but it does mean we all have the incredible privilege of participation.  Oswald Chambers says it well, “The special person called to do missionary work is every person who is a member of the church of Christ.  The call does not come to a chosen few; it is to every one of us.”

Every Believer should be engaged in world missions because reaching all people groups with the gospel is a complex process that calls for the gifts and contributions of Every Believer.  Imagine a businessman, a homebuilder, an engineer, a schoolteacher all working together to plant churches among an out-of-reach people group at the ends of the earth.  Most folks will not leave home permanently to minister on the mission field.  If they are to participate in world missions, they must be released where they are, in the context of their local church.

Every Believer should be engaged in world missions because God is more glorified when His people work together to fulfill His purposes than when they don’t (John 17:20-23).  Moreover, when God’s people participate together in a cause that is bigger than themselves and bigger than their own interests an amazing bond of fellowship takes place between them (Philippians 1:3-5).  Dr. Allan Fromme once said

 “People have been known to achieve more as a result of working with others than against them.” 

A church that unifies around a vision to make Christ known where He is not known, mobilizing Every Believer to meaningfully participate, is a church that will have the smile and blessing of the Father.  Part of that blessing is a rare and sweet camaraderie with other believers that results from co-laboring in the greatest cause ever (Psalm 133).

Every Believer can be engaged in world missions.  George Miley, in his book, Loving the Church, Blessing the Nations writes, “…reaching unreached peoples is a complex process.  It calls forth every gift.  It woos the contribution of Every Believer…Visualize an overall process of initiation, strategy development, implementation, management, pastoral, support, and funding, and you will begin to see a wide range of roles, each of which is a channel for involvement.” 

No matter what you do or how you are gifted, you have an important role to play in fulfilling the Great Commission.  Whether you are a kid, or a senior citizen, or a businessman, or a mother, or an investor…whether you are gifted to teach, or administrate, or pastor, or show mercy, or heal, or help, or serve… there is a place for you to meaningfully engage in world missions.

In closing, I offer one final thought from George Miley, “During the reformation of the church, the reformers wanted to make the Word of God accessible to Every Believer.  Now we live in a time when God’s leaders recognize that we must make the work of God accessible to Every Believer.“  The work of world missions is increasingly becoming accessible to Every Believer.  You should and can be engaged in the imminent completion of the greatest work in the universe, namely, populating heaven with worshipers from all nations, tribes, and tongues.  Have you been unleashed?  If not, what are you waiting for?  God’s work of world missions is for Every Believer.

For more information on how 16:15 can help your church unleash every believer to reach the nations, call to talk with a Church Coach at 505-248-1615 or email info@1615.org

Honoring My Mother

Dorothea Ethel Ellison

May 2, 1931 - April 27, 2012

by Matthew Ellison

My precious mother flew to Jesus on Friday, April 27th …I was honored to be holding her hand as she bid farewell to this world.

My family did not expect her to live past January, but if you knew my mom, you knew she was a fighter.  When she was diagnosed with Pick's disease seven years ago, we were told that she would not live more than 6 months.  Her journey on earth has finally ended...but her best days are before her.

A eulogy is simply a writing or speech in praise of someone who has died.  The purpose is to bestow honor on those who have passed from this life.  How do I best honor my mother?  What do I say?  Well it seems to me that the highest honor I could give her today would be to honor the one that she loved the most – Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior.

Some of my most vivid memories of childhood are of my mom kneeling beside the bunk bed my brother and I shared telling us of God’s love for us.  She kept a Big Chief tablet in a bookshelf near our bed that she had filled with Scriptures she knew we needed to store in our hearts and minds.  Nearly every night she would open the tablet and speak God’s Word over us and encourage us to stockpile His words in our memory.

The first Scripture I ever memorized was 1 John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”  Such a simple passage, so short, and yet so rich with truth and power. 

My mom taught me early on that I was a sinner (which wasn’t too difficult) and though she was the godliest person I have ever known she told me through tears on several occasions that she too was a sinner --- a sinner in desperate need of God’s mercy.  She explained to me that I could not love God as He deserves to be loved unless and until I first received His love for me in Jesus Christ --- that only through the cross of Christ could I be forgiven of my sin debt --- that through forgiveness He would make me into the type of person I ought to be --- that I could love God and others but not because of something innate, something inside of me --- but because of something that happened outside of me, without any help from me, before I was even born, namely the cross.

After helping me memorize 1 John 4:19 she moved to Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”  After she quoted this she would say, “Matthew, Christ is knocking on the door of your heart, you must open the door and let Him in.”

It wasn’t until 1993 that the door of my heart was opened to Christ – but I now know that the Scriptures that my mom supplanted were the keys that God used to finally open the lock.

Nearly 4 months ago, my mother’s hospice nurse encouraged us to contact family and that we should visit her as soon as possible. My brother flew in from Denver and on Saturday night my 4 sisters, my bride, my brother and my dad all gathered around my mom and shared a time of great sorrow and joy. We shared our favorite memories, read short stories my mom had written, and planned her memorial.  Amazingly, perhaps miraculously, that night my mother had some of her most lucid moments than she had in many days. She seemed to recognize us. I quoted to her the Scripture that she used to speak over me as a child at my bedside, I John 4:19. I said, "We love, because He first..." I paused, and with gargled voice she sputtered out the rest,"...loved us."

Today my mom is still speaking, though her spirit has left her broken body.  She still speaks, because her message was the Word of God.

 Her message?

“God loves you --- He stands at the door of your heart and knocks; but you must open to Him.”  The promise is, "If any man will open unto Me, I will come in and sup with him.”  “To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.  Not upon all who heard was the privilege conferred, for many, when they heard, did not believe.   Alas, they provoked Him, and so they perished in their sins. But those who hail Jesus as a friend, salute Him as an honoured guest, sit at His feet, and hang on His lips, find how He lights every chamber of their soul with joy, satisfies every craving of their better nature, and enriches them with all the endowments of adopted children.”

So how do you honor my mom today? You, listen to the One she loved, He is knocking…

Mom I will see you again, but not yet…not yet.