¤ ¤ 00:00:01.06\00:00:29.24 Hello and welcome to Issues and Answers. We are so glad that you 00:00:29.28\00:00:34.79 have joined us for this program today. We believe that there's 00:00:34.82\00:00:39.96 something so exciting, something personal, and something really 00:00:39.99\00:00:45.10 productive in our discussion today. We hope you'll be as 00:00:45.13\00:00:49.21 excited about it as we are. It's based on the text from Isaiah, 00:00:49.25\00:00:54.23 Isaiah 43 where it says, and God is saying this to us personally, 00:00:54.26\00:00:59.27 He's saying, I know what I've done in the past is magnificent. 00:00:59.31\00:01:04.79 What I have done has been incredible, almost unbelievable, 00:01:04.83\00:01:10.51 but don't just focus on the past don't just look back at the 00:01:10.54\00:01:16.31 wonderful miracles I've done. Look at me and wonder and know 00:01:16.35\00:01:21.31 that what I have done in the past I can do again. And he 00:01:21.34\00:01:25.61 promises, I'm going to do something new, watch for this 00:01:25.64\00:01:30.52 new thing. So our call to prayer as a church has a purpose 00:01:30.56\00:01:35.41 because God wants to do something big, something 00:01:35.44\00:01:39.77 enormous and something that is all-encompassing and that uses 00:01:39.81\00:01:44.53 every single one of us. Isn't that exciting? We believe it is. 00:01:44.56\00:01:49.25 I'd like for you to meet my guests Bill McClendon is from 00:01:49.28\00:01:53.94 the Oklahoma Conference. Yes. Welcome. Great to be here Ruthie 00:01:53.98\00:01:58.48 Glad you're here. 00:01:58.52\00:01:59.82 We're excited about what we're going to talk about today. 00:01:59.85\00:02:02.85 And you have some exciting things in your past and in your 00:02:02.88\00:02:06.53 future. That's right, I'm a pastor now 00:02:06.56\00:02:08.39 but I was not always a pastor. I became a Christian when I was 00:02:08.43\00:02:12.94 about 20 and it was really in a sense of that text that you just 00:02:12.97\00:02:17.19 quoted, wanting to see something new that I'd never experienced 00:02:17.22\00:02:21.41 before that God eventually called me into the ministry. 00:02:21.44\00:02:25.52 What were you doing at that time? When you were 20 and you 00:02:25.55\00:02:29.60 had not been a Christian at all before that time. 00:02:29.63\00:02:32.61 Raised in a Christian home but not a Christian, not a Christian 00:02:32.65\00:02:37.48 and I was working in business. I was a computer person, manager 00:02:37.52\00:02:42.14 of an IT department and really just everything going great in 00:02:42.17\00:02:46.76 my life. And you were very successful? 00:02:46.79\00:02:49.00 Very successful. Everything going well. I just went home one 00:02:49.04\00:02:53.45 night in the emptiness of my own home and had an encounter with 00:02:53.48\00:02:57.26 God that I really felt God was calling me to be a follower. 00:02:57.30\00:03:01.05 It was just a few days later then that I received an 00:03:01.08\00:03:05.33 invitation to attend some meetings that were happening in 00:03:05.37\00:03:08.91 the city that I was in, in Tulsa and I went to those meetings 00:03:08.94\00:03:12.83 and I really met the Lord and discovered what God was calling 00:03:12.87\00:03:16.73 me to do and that was to be a follower. 00:03:16.76\00:03:19.92 Bill that is such an exciting story. I love that. And it shows 00:03:19.96\00:03:25.40 what a personal God we have. That was a setup. He knew when 00:03:25.44\00:03:30.19 he wanted you to get that information. He said I love Bill 00:03:30.23\00:03:34.91 I've got a purpose for his life, I've got a bigger plan than he 00:03:34.95\00:03:38.73 can imagine and I've got to get him ready for it. 00:03:38.76\00:03:42.84 I'm glad God leads me one step at a time. You know it was first 00:03:42.88\00:03:46.67 to become a follower and then as I became a part of a church 00:03:46.70\00:03:50.48 there, just longing to see... You know I started reading the 00:03:50.52\00:03:53.93 Bible and was reading Acts chapter 2 and you look around 00:03:53.96\00:03:56.98 the church and you don't see things like that happening any 00:03:57.02\00:04:00.13 longer and I really had it in my heart to want to see something 00:04:00.16\00:04:03.24 like that. And then it was eventually God giving me the 00:04:03.27\00:04:07.23 opportunity to be a part of that by planting a new church and 00:04:07.27\00:04:10.56 becoming a pastor. 00:04:10.59\00:04:11.62 And you know the exciting thing of it is he himself gives you 00:04:11.65\00:04:16.19 that desire. Everything comes from him. I'd like for you to 00:04:16.23\00:04:21.28 meet my other guest that is here, Pastor Derek Morris from 00:04:21.32\00:04:26.66 the Orlando area in Florida, Apopka, Forest Lake Church. 00:04:26.70\00:04:32.01 Derek I'm glad you here. 00:04:32.04\00:04:33.42 I'm glad to be here. I'm excited to talk about how prayer and 00:04:33.46\00:04:37.29 mission go together in life changing ways. 00:04:37.32\00:04:39.48 What does this text mean to you that God is going to do 00:04:39.52\00:04:43.43 something new and that he's calling us, especially right now 00:04:43.47\00:04:49.85 right today. We're here in 2008 and we have a special sense of 00:04:49.89\00:04:56.24 urgency. How does that text fit into what we're doing? 00:04:56.27\00:05:00.71 I've always believed in prayer but the more I study the New 00:05:00.75\00:05:05.24 Testament I see prayer and mission inextricably linked 00:05:05.27\00:05:09.33 together. And there's a text that has particularly impacted 00:05:09.37\00:05:13.01 me in the book of Acts chapter 4 and it says there, speaking 00:05:13.04\00:05:17.02 about the believers, it says after they prayed, so prayer was 00:05:17.06\00:05:21.04 crucial, prayer was foundational but sometimes Christians say 00:05:21.07\00:05:24.58 well I'm not into mission I'm just into prayer. But the text 00:05:24.61\00:05:28.46 says after they prayed the place where they were meeting was 00:05:28.50\00:05:31.86 shaken, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. People say 00:05:31.90\00:05:35.00 oh I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but it goes on 00:05:35.03\00:05:38.59 and says and spoke the word of God boldly. And you read the 00:05:38.62\00:05:41.98 book of Acts and it's all about mission. It's all about telling 00:05:42.01\00:05:45.66 people about Jesus, that he died for their sins and rose from the 00:05:45.69\00:05:49.31 dead, that he is indeed the Christ, Son of God. So I think 00:05:49.34\00:05:53.20 the new thing is saying we need prayer. To go out and try to 00:05:53.23\00:05:57.78 serve Jesus without prayer is foolish but we also need to go 00:05:57.82\00:06:02.34 from prayer. Get up off of our knees and do missions. 00:06:02.37\00:06:05.92 I think we as Christians have always believed that prayer is 00:06:05.96\00:06:10.89 vital and we sometimes have the mistaken idea that if we pray 00:06:10.93\00:06:15.16 and we're studying the word that's really all there is to 00:06:15.19\00:06:19.35 being a Christian. That's just the first beginning steps. We've 00:06:19.39\00:06:24.21 got to move on from there because it's all for a purpose. 00:06:24.24\00:06:27.35 God wants us to know him. 00:06:27.38\00:06:29.20 That's right. The other extreme, Acts chapter 6, is where the 00:06:29.24\00:06:32.79 church is growing rapidly and the number of disciples is 00:06:32.82\00:06:36.53 increasing greatly. Then the leaders say, we need to delegate 00:06:36.57\00:06:40.34 responsibility to people full of the Holy Spirit and we must 00:06:40.37\00:06:44.43 remember to devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of 00:06:44.46\00:06:48.49 the word. So there's a balance. We need both. We need a 00:06:48.52\00:06:53.15 foundation in prayer all of us and we also need to be involved 00:06:53.19\00:06:56.38 in mission. 00:06:56.41\00:06:57.44 And I love the text in Daniel, Daniel 11:32 that says, and the 00:06:57.47\00:07:02.71 Lord is speaking through Daniel to us even our day. He's saying 00:07:02.75\00:07:08.09 if you know me intimately and he uses yadah, the knowing of 00:07:08.13\00:07:13.44 the intimacy of marriage, he says if you will know me 00:07:13.47\00:07:17.87 intimately I will make you strong and I'll make you able 00:07:17.90\00:07:22.06 to do bold and daring things. So it's always that God says 00:07:22.10\00:07:26.65 yes I love you and I've got a plan for your life and a purpose 00:07:26.69\00:07:31.21 for your life just as I have a place for you in heaven, a 00:07:31.24\00:07:35.71 mansion, a place for you to live in heaven, I have a place for 00:07:35.75\00:07:39.59 you on earth, but you have to know me. You have to talk to me. 00:07:39.62\00:07:45.00 I'd like to know, tell us, why is it so vital right now for us 00:07:45.03\00:07:50.38 as Christians and Seventh-day Adventists. 00:07:50.41\00:07:53.10 You know, as we're looking to the future, before we can really 00:07:53.14\00:07:56.68 look at the future, oftentimes we look at the past and there 00:07:56.71\00:08:00.99 has been a trend growing in, I think, all churches and that is 00:08:01.03\00:08:04.78 that things have gone pretty much the way they have. One only 00:08:04.81\00:08:07.76 has to come into the church. When I joined the church and 00:08:07.79\00:08:11.15 became a Christian and started attending 20 years ago it just 00:08:11.19\00:08:14.46 seemed like something was missing. Yes, people loved Jesus 00:08:14.50\00:08:18.74 and there's a spirit of desire to want to serve the Lord, but 00:08:18.78\00:08:22.99 yet God has a purpose for us. As I became a Christian I 00:08:23.02\00:08:26.84 realized that God added me to his family because he wanted to 00:08:26.88\00:08:33.00 use me for a reason. 00:08:33.03\00:08:34.28 He doesn't every want us to be so satisfied that we just settle 00:08:34.32\00:08:38.66 down in a rut and say wow this is good. I'm glad for what I've 00:08:38.70\00:08:42.88 got. This is enough. Because God says no, no, no, don't stop 00:08:42.92\00:08:47.07 there. I've got a huge plan for you. 00:08:47.10\00:08:49.40 That's right for 20 years of my life I was not a follower of 00:08:49.44\00:08:53.11 Christ. As I became one, my heart's desire was that I would 00:08:53.14\00:08:57.07 have been one earlier. And God lays that burden on all of our 00:08:57.11\00:09:01.03 hearts that there are people in our world, in our neighborhoods, 00:09:01.06\00:09:04.95 in our work places that we need to reach for the gospel. So that 00:09:04.99\00:09:08.74 I think is really where we're looking at. What does God call 00:09:08.78\00:09:12.30 us to do. Yes, he calls us to pray, he calls us to study the 00:09:12.34\00:09:16.13 Bible, but all of that is to prepare us for the work that 00:09:16.17\00:09:19.68 God wants us to do and that is to share him with the rest of 00:09:19.71\00:09:22.95 the world and I think that's the focus that we're looking at 00:09:22.98\00:09:27.23 in the future is how can we change the world and tell others 00:09:27.27\00:09:31.49 about him? That's right. And it must be 00:09:31.52\00:09:33.52 with a sense of urgency from him because he says that he's not 00:09:33.56\00:09:38.58 willing that any should perish. And just as he had a plan for 00:09:38.62\00:09:42.60 your life and for each one of us he has a plan for the people out 00:09:42.63\00:09:46.58 there who don't know him. And we're responsible. We have the 00:09:46.61\00:09:51.22 joy of working with him to take that to them. 00:09:51.25\00:09:54.47 The great commission was not the great punishment. You know, go 00:09:54.51\00:09:58.53 and tell everybody. It's a privilege that God gives to us 00:09:58.56\00:10:01.96 and for I think many Christians they never really embrace that 00:10:02.00\00:10:07.35 in a personal way. That's something that the pastor does, 00:10:07.38\00:10:11.23 or my minister does. But God calls all of us to do that and 00:10:11.26\00:10:15.37 we're looking forward to the time when the church will really 00:10:15.41\00:10:19.49 awaken and take a hold of that. 00:10:19.52\00:10:22.85 And it's time now, isn't it right now. It's time. 00:10:22.89\00:10:26.67 We've got to say all right we're going to stop doing 00:10:26.71\00:10:29.59 business as usual, we going to depend on God for 00:10:29.63\00:10:32.48 something huge. Tell us about that. 00:10:32.52\00:10:35.64 Well you know the church in North America and Europe is not 00:10:35.67\00:10:40.14 making the impact the way other places are. You know we read 00:10:40.17\00:10:43.69 about what goes on overseas, (South America, Interamerica) 00:10:43.73\00:10:48.09 and how 10s of thousands, but if you look at North America in 00:10:48.12\00:10:51.55 places like that it just isn't happening and you've got to ask 00:10:51.58\00:10:54.98 yourself why not. Is God not interested in people here or 00:10:55.01\00:10:59.18 is it us, that we no longer have that passion to reach people. 00:10:59.22\00:11:04.35 So there's been a nominal amount of growth that has occurred here 00:11:04.39\00:11:09.49 in North America, but in a meeting that I think Derek and I 00:11:09.52\00:11:12.90 were both in recently, thinking about the future you know it was 00:11:12.94\00:11:17.10 just a God thing as we met there and everybody sensed it but as 00:11:17.14\00:11:21.27 we looked to the future and setting some goals and some 00:11:21.30\00:11:24.70 ideas about what God could do, it wasn't just a 10 percent 00:11:24.73\00:11:27.55 increase, it wasn't just a 50 per cent increase but about 00:11:27.59\00:11:31.05 30,000 people are added to the Adventist church every year in 00:11:31.08\00:11:33.89 North America and by the time that meeting was over we were 00:11:33.93\00:11:36.71 believing God for 100,000 souls, 100,000 people. 00:11:36.74\00:11:42.63 In one year? In one year. And we have never come close. 00:11:42.67\00:11:45.61 Never. But something has to change in 00:11:45.64\00:11:48.08 order for that to happen. You've got to have the foundation of 00:11:48.12\00:11:51.66 prayer, but then everyone has to be engaged and talk about 00:11:51.70\00:11:55.13 how to build bridges with people and how to pray a radical prayer 00:11:55.16\00:11:58.56 that's going to change people's lives. But it can't be just 00:11:58.59\00:12:01.98 looking at the pastor or it's can't be a pastor just saying 00:12:02.02\00:12:05.52 well we'll have an evangelist come in. It has to be every 00:12:05.55\00:12:08.98 follower of Jesus first seeking God and then being part of that 00:12:09.02\00:12:14.64 miracle. That's what I like about that 00:12:14.67\00:12:16.97 goal. Everybody that looks at this and it's just such a God 00:12:17.01\00:12:21.09 sized thing that we know we cannot do it. We cannot do it 00:12:21.13\00:12:25.14 the way that things have always been done and this is really not 00:12:25.18\00:12:29.91 only asking all of God's people to get involved but asking God 00:12:29.94\00:12:34.64 to do something new like you just mentioned. 00:12:34.67\00:12:36.68 That's right, that's right. And you know every Christian has to 00:12:36.72\00:12:41.95 say Lord, I really, really want to be part of this. I don't want 00:12:41.99\00:12:47.19 this to pass me by. You know it's like the hymn, While on 00:12:47.22\00:12:50.77 others thou art calling, do not pass me by. I need this. I think 00:12:50.80\00:12:56.46 every Christian has to say Lord I want to be part of this. You 00:12:56.49\00:13:01.80 gave me life for a purpose. This is so exciting. How do you want 00:13:01.83\00:13:07.10 to use me and now what can be the next steps for them. 00:13:07.14\00:13:13.40 After I became a Christian I had a pastor who really took me 00:13:13.44\00:13:17.66 under his wing and he showed me what being a Christian was all 00:13:17.69\00:13:21.44 about and it wasn't just sitting there week by week but it was 00:13:21.48\00:13:24.97 sharing your faith and I had an opportunity to start giving 00:13:25.00\00:13:28.46 Bible studies. So you were growing. 00:13:28.50\00:13:30.46 I was growing but I've got to tell you I was going along 00:13:30.49\00:13:35.17 reluctantly. But really it changed my life when it was over 00:13:35.21\00:13:39.82 When I was sitting in church one day and I watched somebody walk 00:13:39.86\00:13:43.60 down the steps of the baptistery and I saw a person give their 00:13:43.64\00:13:47.43 heart to the Lord and to be baptized. It's then I understood 00:13:47.46\00:13:50.77 what God's will is for everyone, not just pastors but everybody. 00:13:50.80\00:13:54.09 Was that one of your friends, one of the people that you had 00:13:54.12\00:13:57.37 been sharing with. It was. It was somebody that I 00:13:57.40\00:14:00.80 had established a relationship with and I'd been able to give 00:14:00.84\00:14:04.89 some Bible studies to and it just made me understand now that 00:14:04.92\00:14:09.08 my life is not about making money or doing a certain job. 00:14:09.11\00:14:12.80 It is about ministry. It is about leading others into the 00:14:12.83\00:14:16.99 same experience that I had. And I can't help thinking that if 00:14:17.02\00:14:21.56 our people would just experience that. Our pastor talked about it 00:14:21.60\00:14:26.10 as a drug, the drug of winning people to the Lord, that once 00:14:26.14\00:14:30.19 you've experienced it, it's addictive. 00:14:30.23\00:14:32.52 It's a high, it puts you on a high. And you know the Lord 00:14:32.55\00:14:37.08 himself takes you from the state of reluctancy to the joy and the 00:14:37.12\00:14:43.77 excitement and the rewards of actually seeing somebody make 00:14:43.81\00:14:47.49 progress and growth. And you understand that growth because 00:14:47.53\00:14:51.63 you've been there and you want them to just experience that. 00:14:51.66\00:14:55.47 And then to keep sharing it and then it becomes exponential. 00:14:55.51\00:14:59.12 You know, the Lord leads one step at a time. If he had shown 00:14:59.15\00:15:02.36 me everything, I would have run so far the other direction so 00:15:02.40\00:15:06.49 fast. But it seems like one step If you're willing to be faithful 00:15:06.52\00:15:10.58 to the Lord and take that next step then you're amazed when 00:15:10.61\00:15:13.87 it's over and how far God has led you. 00:15:13.90\00:15:15.82 And you know when you realize that scripture is true, he 00:15:15.86\00:15:20.53 really does take you where you never could have gone. He really 00:15:20.56\00:15:25.26 does help you to be what you never could have been and he 00:15:25.30\00:15:28.87 helps you to do what you never could have done. That's great, 00:15:28.91\00:15:32.45 Bill. But I can just hear somebody say that's wonderful 00:15:32.48\00:15:36.89 that's exciting, but how did you get there? I'm still a little 00:15:36.93\00:15:41.01 bit fearful. You know fear is not necessarily 00:15:41.04\00:15:45.13 a bad thing. You know when we are a little bit fearful when 00:15:45.17\00:15:49.57 we're doing something for the Lord, it drives us to our knees, 00:15:49.60\00:15:53.53 it helps us to know that we are depending on him. Everything in 00:15:53.56\00:15:57.17 life is fearful the first time that you do it and this is not 00:15:57.21\00:16:01.09 about everybody going to have their own evangelistic meeting 00:16:01.12\00:16:05.18 or even knocking on doors. This is about everybody praying and 00:16:05.21\00:16:09.21 asking God what is it that you would have me to do? As we all 00:16:09.24\00:16:13.20 work together and God adds his blessing then anything is 00:16:13.23\00:16:17.52 achievable. But what would happen if God is calling me to 00:16:17.56\00:16:21.81 be a part of this and I remain inactive? 00:16:21.84\00:16:24.46 Then you miss something huge that only he can do because I 00:16:24.50\00:16:28.91 believe he's calling us to something supernatural. Sure. 00:16:28.94\00:16:33.28 But a supernatural mission calls for supernatural resources and 00:16:33.31\00:16:39.43 only he can do that. That's why prayer has to be the basis and 00:16:39.46\00:16:45.54 then he leads us step by step. Wouldn't you agree? 00:16:45.57\00:16:48.66 You know to come back to something that Bill said that 00:16:48.69\00:16:51.71 Jesus... Luke 10 is a passage that's profoundly impacted my 00:16:51.75\00:16:55.66 life. When the disciples joined Jesus in what he was doing, it 00:16:55.70\00:16:59.58 says they returned with joy and so... 00:16:59.61\00:17:03.93 They probably went out with fear they returned with joy. 00:17:03.96\00:17:05.49 He said they were lambs so they didn't feel totally adequate but 00:17:05.53\00:17:09.65 as they joined him in his work they came back with joy and the 00:17:09.68\00:17:14.24 beautiful think is that God places us where he knows we're 00:17:14.28\00:17:17.80 gifted to serve and he gives us the gifts that we need. 00:17:17.83\00:17:21.28 I'm glad you said what you did about fear. A friend of mine 00:17:21.32\00:17:25.07 who's a pastor in 00:17:25.10\00:17:26.27 Tampa, Florida told me recently, he said you know what I had a 00:17:26.31\00:17:30.02 member that came into my office the other day and he said pastor 00:17:30.05\00:17:34.11 you wanted us to go out and do something with you, I think it 00:17:34.15\00:17:38.17 was a car wash or feeding parking meters, or something 00:17:38.21\00:17:43.26 maybe it was handing out water at some event. He said I've 00:17:43.29\00:17:47.95 never done this before and I'm kind of scared. The pastor, I 00:17:47.98\00:17:52.05 thought, his response was perfect. He said you're scared. 00:17:52.09\00:17:56.09 I'm scared too. Let's be scared together. But let's just do it. 00:17:56.13\00:18:00.66 And once you do what you're afraid of you discover that that 00:18:00.70\00:18:06.01 was just a farce. Do what you're afraid of and the death of fear 00:18:06.05\00:18:11.33 is certain. That's right. That's right. I 00:18:11.36\00:18:13.65 think anytime we do something... You know it's a supernatural 00:18:13.68\00:18:17.53 thing. When you start talking to somebody about their 00:18:17.56\00:18:20.19 relationship with God and we're entering into ground where we 00:18:20.22\00:18:24.06 know we are not able to do this and that's when God joins us. 00:18:24.10\00:18:27.68 When we get out of the boat or crawl out to the edge of the 00:18:27.72\00:18:31.09 limb. We are safely in God's hands and we don't always have 00:18:31.12\00:18:34.49 the right answer. We don't always know exactly what we're 00:18:34.52\00:18:37.82 going to say but I have found it's in times like that that God 00:18:37.85\00:18:41.88 really does his work in our life and when it's over then it's not 00:18:41.91\00:18:45.91 about what I've done or what Derek has done or anybody, it's 00:18:45.94\00:18:49.45 about what God did in that experience. 00:18:49.48\00:18:51.87 That's right. There's a gospel song and the words go like this: 00:18:51.90\00:18:55.45 Get out of the boat and start walking on the sea, because out 00:18:55.49\00:18:59.45 of the boat is the safest place to be. When you're walking 00:18:59.49\00:19:03.38 toward the Master, he will keep you afloat. Never mind the wind 00:19:03.42\00:19:08.62 or the waves, get out of the boat. So what would you say 00:19:08.66\00:19:12.51 to somebody who's saying I really want to get out of the 00:19:12.55\00:19:16.37 boat? I'd encourage them to begin to 00:19:16.40\00:19:20.76 pray and I've been led to very radical prayer in Luke 10 where 00:19:20.79\00:19:24.51 we give the Lord of the harvest permission to throw us out into 00:19:24.54\00:19:28.22 his harvest. The beautiful thing is instead of saying I'm 00:19:28.26\00:19:32.00 supposed to do what everybody else is doing, is to say Lord 00:19:32.03\00:19:35.70 you show me what you want me to do. You put me in the place that 00:19:35.74\00:19:38.27 you want me to be. I think of my wife who had a small Bible 00:19:38.31\00:19:41.78 study group with three or four ladies and they felt convicted 00:19:41.81\00:19:45.26 to encourage people to come and study about the great prophesies 00:19:45.29\00:19:49.24 of Daniel and Revelation and something happened as they were 00:19:49.27\00:19:52.76 willing to step out to use your words, step out of the boat, 00:19:52.79\00:19:57.02 the group has grown. They have 30 to 50 people coming and you 00:19:57.06\00:20:01.26 know how my wife feels? She's joyful. She's excited. 00:20:01.29\00:20:05.41 Because she knows that she can't do this and the other ladies 00:20:05.44\00:20:09.73 that are there, they know that they're joining God in what he's 00:20:09.77\00:20:14.66 doing. Now all of that is going to bless them as well as bless 00:20:14.70\00:20:19.55 the people that are learning more about the word. 00:20:19.59\00:20:21.45 And it grows because the people who are there studying now get 00:20:21.48\00:20:26.89 excited. Success is its own reward, because the people who 00:20:26.92\00:20:32.54 are there are saying, oh I know somebody who ought be learning 00:20:32.57\00:20:38.15 what I'm learning. This is life changing stuff. 00:20:38.19\00:20:39.60 That's exactly what's happening. And so we're starting... They're 00:20:39.63\00:20:43.30 going to start the study again and have a second group studying 00:20:43.33\00:20:46.97 some other things and this Daniel and Revelation group's 00:20:47.00\00:20:50.31 going to start again in January a different time of the week 00:20:50.35\00:20:53.94 when other people can come. And they're continuing to see God 00:20:53.98\00:20:57.54 work. And back to what we started with, that's taking my 00:20:57.57\00:21:01.57 wife and others back to prayer and saying God we really need 00:21:01.61\00:21:05.52 you. We really need you and yet we also want to come and praise 00:21:05.56\00:21:09.03 you. Great and awesome God the scripture says. Bless the Lord 00:21:09.06\00:21:12.73 oh my soul, all that is within me bless his holy name. So we're 00:21:12.76\00:21:16.39 experiencing a deeper relationship but prayer and 00:21:16.42\00:21:20.70 mission are inextricably linked together. 00:21:20.74\00:21:22.53 And don't you believe that when you're involved in something 00:21:22.57\00:21:26.84 this big, I mean this kingdom business. And the kingdom 00:21:26.88\00:21:32.29 advances among friends. When you are involved in a friendly 00:21:32.33\00:21:37.86 ministry, a mission that has eternal consequences, the Lord 00:21:37.90\00:21:43.12 himself gives you the sense you're just watching me work. 00:21:43.16\00:21:48.32 I'm doing this whole thing but I'm giving you the privilege of 00:21:48.35\00:21:52.25 watching me at work. 00:21:52.29\00:21:53.32 That's what it has to be. We cannot look back on this 00:21:53.35\00:21:57.18 experience and say look what we did. We worked hard and we 00:21:57.21\00:22:01.97 invested a lot of money. It has to be look what God has done. 00:22:02.01\00:22:06.73 And it's a faith building exercise because as broad and 00:22:06.77\00:22:12.07 as aggressive as some of these objectives are that's still 00:22:12.11\00:22:16.45 nothing compared to what God wants to do one day. So this is 00:22:16.48\00:22:20.59 another step where we'll look and say God has honored our 00:22:20.62\00:22:24.66 faith. You know think about that experience of being thrown out 00:22:24.69\00:22:27.49 of the boat or walking on the water, I was reading something 00:22:27.53\00:22:31.22 recently and just as a reminder when we are over our heads 00:22:31.26\00:22:35.87 it's under God's feet. Because God walked on the water. So you 00:22:35.91\00:22:39.68 know it's something for us to remember that we're doing God's 00:22:39.71\00:22:43.45 work, we cannot fail. 00:22:43.48\00:22:44.52 You know what's happened for me, just a personal testimony, I was 00:22:44.56\00:22:48.66 invited to go and hold a meeting for a whole city and talk to the 00:22:48.69\00:22:52.75 city about Jesus. My first response is somebody else should 00:22:52.79\00:22:57.08 do that. You know, someone maybe more capable or experienced. And 00:22:57.12\00:23:01.70 then I think wait a minute. If God is calling all of us and God 00:23:01.73\00:23:06.32 has given me some gifts, I need to be willing to let him put me 00:23:06.35\00:23:10.77 somewhere that he wants me to be and I think this initiative 00:23:10.81\00:23:15.13 of saying God is going to do a new thing. We're looking at 00:23:15.17\00:23:19.14 three times the growth prayerfully. We've got to pray. 00:23:19.18\00:23:23.08 But we've got to do more than pray. We've got to say God show 00:23:23.12\00:23:26.31 me what you want me to do. 00:23:26.35\00:23:28.25 And you know Derek, maybe the first prayer ought to be Lord I 00:23:28.29\00:23:33.49 love you. Make me willing. Give me a willing heart so you can 00:23:33.52\00:23:37.82 just pour through me, put the words in my mouth, put the love 00:23:37.86\00:23:42.23 in my heart and just show people how much you care for them. 00:23:42.26\00:23:46.68 That's right. With him we move from being a passive observer 00:23:46.71\00:23:51.15 to being that active participant and when that happens something 00:23:51.18\00:23:55.58 happens in our heart. Then joy comes as we join God in what 00:23:55.61\00:23:59.41 he's doing. And that's something that we're praying that every 00:23:59.45\00:24:03.21 follower of Jesus will be willing to do; to say Lord show 00:24:03.25\00:24:06.94 me how to be an active participant in your work. 00:24:06.98\00:24:09.18 Christianity was never ever meant to be a spectator sport. 00:24:09.21\00:24:13.72 It was always for involvement and getting in there and joining 00:24:13.76\00:24:17.71 God because he's not going to let you down and he's always 00:24:17.75\00:24:21.67 going to be there with you. 00:24:21.71\00:24:22.74 That's right. Back to where we started in Acts 4. It doesn't 00:24:22.77\00:24:25.94 say that after they prayed, the apostle went out and 00:24:25.98\00:24:30.36 preached the word of God boldly. It says after they prayed they 00:24:30.40\00:24:34.36 went out, all of them, and in different settings and different 00:24:34.39\00:24:38.31 ways they are proclaiming the word of God in a life 00:24:38.35\00:24:43.74 changing way. Everybody's busy. In fact, the 00:24:43.77\00:24:46.10 whole book of Acts shows everybody was in there 00:24:46.13\00:24:48.39 together doing something. You know, I just have to share the 00:24:48.42\00:24:53.83 thought that came to me about all of this. The prayer and 00:24:53.87\00:24:58.49 going out, often, maybe nearly every time we have a prayer 00:24:58.53\00:25:02.59 event, somebody will come to me afterward and say, Ruthie, I 00:25:02.62\00:25:06.66 I know what you're saying is true but I need to have you pray 00:25:06.69\00:25:11.09 for me so that I can do that. I know the power has to come 00:25:11.13\00:25:15.46 from God but will you pray for me. And so let's pause right now 00:25:15.50\00:25:20.85 and pray for that person whom we have been speaking with. 00:25:20.88\00:25:26.51 Let's pray together. Father in heaven, what a privilege it is 00:25:26.55\00:25:32.14 to bring all of this to your feet. The things we've been 00:25:32.18\00:25:36.39 talking about today are too big for us. But nothing is 00:25:36.43\00:25:40.58 impossible with God. We ask you to come into our hearts in a new 00:25:40.61\00:25:45.90 and deep, wonderful way so that we can experience not only the 00:25:45.94\00:25:51.19 excitement of sharing with others, but the willingness. 00:25:51.23\00:25:55.87 Take us to people who you're already working with. We know 00:25:55.91\00:26:00.49 your Holy Spirit is way ahead of us. So walk with us and use us. 00:26:00.52\00:26:06.02 Surprise us with the joy of watching you do what only you 00:26:06.06\00:26:11.52 can do. Lord, we thank you, we love you and we praise you for 00:26:11.55\00:26:16.51 what you're doing. I ask a special blessing for the persons 00:26:16.54\00:26:21.43 that we're praying for just now. In the strong name of Jesus amen 00:26:21.46\00:26:27.63 This has been such a joy to have you both here today and our time 00:26:27.67\00:26:33.65 is just about gone. It goes so quickly, but you each have about 00:26:33.68\00:26:39.63 30 seconds to just encourage somebody that they can do it. 00:26:39.66\00:26:42.14 What do you want to tell them? 00:26:42.17\00:26:44.90 Ruthie, this is the most exciting to be a Christian. We 00:26:44.93\00:26:48.30 believe that Jesus is coming soon but there are yet people 00:26:48.33\00:26:52.24 that need to hear. You and I have been privileged to be a 00:26:52.27\00:26:56.20 part of that group that will be challenged to take the world 00:26:56.24\00:26:59.73 take the gospel to the entire world. I want to be a part of 00:26:59.76\00:27:03.22 that and I know others do as well. 00:27:03.25\00:27:05.15 And our best days are just ahead. Derek what are your 00:27:05.19\00:27:09.00 parting words? Well I think when we join God 00:27:09.03\00:27:11.29 in what he's doing we experience joy. So we come on 00:27:11.32\00:27:14.19 our knees and then we get up off of our knees and join him in his 00:27:14.22\00:27:17.82 work. Ah, what an exciting work. 00:27:17.86\00:27:19.77 And I want to thank you both for being here. There is an 00:27:19.80\00:27:24.30 excitement in this whole topic isn't there? 00:27:24.34\00:27:26.58 There is. Thank you for having us. 00:27:26.62\00:27:29.47 And you know we're thankful that you were part of this. 00:27:29.51\00:27:33.17 Thanks for joining us for Issues and Answers. I hope that this 00:27:33.20\00:27:36.21 will become something personal and real in your life. I hope 00:27:36.25\00:27:40.58 that you will take this to the Lord in prayer and say Lord they 00:27:40.61\00:27:44.52 were talking about me today and I really want to know you better 00:27:44.56\00:27:48.44 I want you to make me strong, I want to do this. 00:27:48.47\00:27:51.64 Thanks, we'll see you again next time. 00:27:51.67\00:27:54.13