Fulfilling the Great Commission in the Twenty-first Century: Three Articles

Every Life On Mission Matters – By Aaron Coe

Here’s a truth you can count on: God is on a mission to reconcile people to Himself, and this mission sweeps both history and the globe. More importantly, it includes regular, ordinary people like you and me.

But, if we’re honest, we might say we don’t feel much like we’re a part of God’s grand mission.

Right now you may be navigating a busy airport wondering if you’ll make your next flight because of a late connection.

Or perhaps you’re focused on getting the kids ready for school and just realized you forgot to make their lunches last night. Now you’re trying to hastily make peanut butter sandwiches and figure out what you’re going to tell your boss because you’re going to be late for your meeting!

By the time you get settled in your hotel room or have the kids in bed, you’re ready to kick back and watch some television. Your role as a missionary bearing the hope of the world is not exactly what you’re thinking about or how you’d describe yourself. Maybe in theory, but in practice, your mind is far from it. Keep reading

Seven terrible evangelism ideas... and a few that might work better

Evangelism is a bit like dancing at a wedding. You know you ought to do it; maybe you even want to do it. But deep down you're worried you'll do it wrong, that people will laugh, and that awkward videos of your failure will end up on YouTube. Alright, maybe that's stretching it a bit – but the fact remains that evangelism can sometimes feel awkward and difficult, and so instead of getting up to dance, we often end up spending the evening locked in the corner talking to Uncle Ken about his Koi carp collection. And no-one wants that.

Because simply talking to our friends (or strangers) about our Christian faith can feel socially difficult, many of us develop new strategies for outreach which we hope will do the job of evangelism for us, without all the awkwardness and, you know, conversation about Jesus. They have one thing in common – they're terrible, and they probably won't work. So I've compiled a list of some of the best bad evangelism ideas I've ever come across... and then added some suggestions for how, with a bit of bravery, they might just be improved.... Keep reading

The Power of Consistency

Imagine a leaky faucet. Regardless of how you hard you twist the knob, it still drips. One drop at a time. Incessantly – drip, drip, drip. The consistency becomes an annoyance pretty quickly. But put in the right environment and given enough time, that same dripping with that same consistency, can have an immense amount of power.

That’s how canyons are made. Not all at once, but through the power of consistency.

Dripping isn’t that exciting, but what it lacks in flash it makes up for in effectiveness. There’s a lot to be said for the power of consistency.

When we lead people in the way of discipleship, one of the issues we must deal with is the boring nature of it all. I mean, there’s only so many ways you can “spice up” the habits that characterize consistent growth in Christ.

There will be many days when you and the people you lead won’t feel like reading the Bible. They won’t feel like praying. They won’t feel like memorizing Scripture or serving or doing any of the other practices of spiritual development. Consequently, we might be tempted to reframe or describe spiritual growth as some grand adventure completely free of drudgery. While it’s true that at times growing in Christ will feel like that, it’s also true that many times it won’t.

In the end, what we’ll find is that consistency wins over excitement time and time again. And here are a few reasons why.... Keep reading