LOOK CHRIST IN THE FACE...

THIRD QUOTE

This quote follows the first one. Review the first quote if you need to right here: 4 Gospel rythm, heart pounding, gut wrenching, life changing, must respond to quotes!!

"Not called! did you say? 'Not heard the call, ' I think you should say. Put your EAR DOWN to the BIBLE, and hear Him bid YOU GO and PULL SINNERS out of the fire of sin. Put your EAR DOWN to the BURDENED, agonized HEART of humanity, and LISTEN to its PITIFUL WAIL for help. GO stand by the GATES of HELL, and hear the damned entreat YOU to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. AND THEN LOOK CHRIST IN THE FACE, whose mercy YOU have PROFESSED TO OBEY, and tell HIM whether YOU will JOIN HEART and SOUL and BODY and CIRCUMSTANCES in the march to publish His mercy to the world. (William Booth)

4 Gospel rythm, heart pounding, gut wrenching, life changing, must respond to quotes!

How's that for a title to a blog? I don't know how else to explain these 4 quotes you are about to take part in (if you have the heart and the guts to digest them) other than that. I am actually going to be praying through these in order to ask the Great God to make ME this kind of Christ Follower...it will NOT be easy...at all...even frightening...

Disclaimer: do NOT read these 4 quotes UNLESS you are WILLING to let the Holy Spirit PENETRATE your soul and cut into the marrows of your bone. If you are NOT ready for SURGERY, do not read these. If you are ready to be "cut" on, go ahead my friend and let the Great Surgeon "prep" you...you got about 2 hours of surgery ahead of you... Time to scrub in...

*Context for the quotes: these are about Evangelizing people to Jesus while doing "Compassionate Ministry"...in other words...going to people no one else wants to go to...saying what no one else wants to say..."for the Name of Jesus"...
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First Quote:

Does the surging sea look dark and dangerous? Unquestionably it is so. There is no doubt that the leap for YOU, as for everyone who takes it means difficulty and scorn and suffering. For YOU it may mean more than this. It may mean death. He who beckons YOU from the sea, however, knows what it will mean - and knowing, He still calls to YOU and bids YOU come.

YOU MUST DO IT! YOU cannot hold back. YOU have enjoyed YOURSELF in Christianity LONG ENOUGH. YOU have had PLEASANT feelings, PLEASANT songs, PLEASANT meetings, PLEASANT prospects. There has been much of human HAPPINESS, much CLAPPING of hands and SHOUTING of praises - very much of HEAVEN and EARTH.

Now then, GO to God and TELL HIM YOU are prepared as much as necessary to turn YOUR back upon it all, and that YOU are willing to spend the rest of YOUR days STRUGGLING in the midst of these PERISHING multitudes, WHATEVER IT MAY COST YOU.

YOU MUST DO IT. With the light that has now broken in upon YOUR mind, and the CALL that is now sounding in YOUR ears, and the beckoning hands that are now before YOUR eyes, YOU HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE. To go DOWN among the PERISHING CROWDS is YOUR DUTY. YOUR HAPPINESS from now on will consist in sharing in their MISERY, YOUR EASE in sharing their PAIN, YOUR CROWN in helping them to BEAR the CROSS, and YOUR HEAVEN in going into the very JAWS of HELL to RESCUE them.

NOW, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Quote paraphrased (William Booth)
emphasis is mine
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SECOND QUOTE

DOWN, DOWN, says Christ; YOU will find ME in the POOR; YOU are RISING too high if YOU do NOT look for ME there.

Quote (Martin Luther)
emphasis mine

May Christ deal with you and me through His Holy Spirit. May Glory be given to the Father!

The next 2 quotes, or 2 hours of surgery will come tomorrow. We can't stay sedated forever...

Even...

Philippians 2:8 tells us that Jesus was so obedient to His Father...obedient "to death"...even death on a Cross (NIV)! The New International Version's translation has really struck me.

"And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!"

Most of us will become "obedient" only "so far". Jesus went the farthest...the complete distance..."even" death on the Cross!

How far will we go in obeying God the Father?

Fill in the blank for yourself: " Jeff became obedient to _______--even_______."

For the Name! Part II

"--men who have risked their lives FOR THE NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts 15:26;NIV)

What will you and I do "FOR THE NAME" of our Lord Jesus Christ today?

For the Name! Part I

"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." (Acts 5:41;NIV)

It's time...time to figure out what life is all about! Life is about the Name of Jesus Christ. It's not about your name...it's not about my name..it's not about "our" purpose in life or where we are going to live,etc. Yes, those things are important and yes, God the Father intimately cares for you and me and those things. However, before all of that, there was Christ...after all of that...Christ! Our lives are to be about the Name of Jesus!

Aside from Jesus, we have no purpose, no calling, no hope, no future. The apostles figured this out. So, they did not look for their purpose and go where the money was. They did not say, "God wants me to be happy so I must go where the bigger homes are". They went to where Jesus needed to be preached and suffered disgrace"for the Name".

The word "disgrace" comes from "dis"- meaning "opposite" and "grazia" meaning "grace". It is the "opposite of grace"...in other words, misfortune, out of favor. God would not call us to suffer "misfortune" would He? That's not American Christianity. Your right...it's not American Christianity; but it's what Jesus meant for Christianity! Jesus calls us to "suffer for the Name." That is our purpose in life! That is a call to rejoice!

The apostles "rejoiced" that they had been counted "worthy" of "suffering disgrace" for the Name of Jesus...let that soak in. Usually, we say, "It must be God's will because I get a bigger salary; I must be in the right ministry because everyone speaks well of me and I have a big office." The apostles were not spoken well of...they did not have a big office. Not that those things are bad, they can be a blessing from Jesus. But, that's not all God has called us to. We are called to suffer disgrace "for the Name."

The apostles did just that! They performed miraculous signs and wonders...taught in the Name of Jesus Christ and were thrown into prison. An angel of the Lord got 'em out of prison and told them, "Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life (Acts 5:20)."

Dude, they had just gotten thrown into prison for just that thing! Well, they spoke the Name of Jesus and did what the angel of the Lord said...guess what? They got flogged for it! That's when they said verse 41 above! First prison...then being beaten with a whip! Where were the free doughnuts?

Here is how you and I will know if we are "4 the Name" Christ followers: we will preach Jesus Name til we "suffer disgrace" for it. Then, WE'LL DO IT AGAIN! "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ NOT ONLY TO BELIEVE on Him, but also to SUFFER for Him." (Philippians 1:29;Emphasis mine;NIV).

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21;NIV)

A Brave Heart

A heart loves. How is our heart to love God? Francois Fenelon, archbishop of Cambrai in 1695 answers that question! His answer comes from a quote found in his work titled, "Christian Perfection"...let it rock your world ! He said," There is only one way to love God: to take not a single step without Him, and to follow with a brave heart wherever He leads."

He goes on to say, "All those who live the Christian life, and yet would very much like to keep a little in with the world, run great risk of being among the lukewarm of whom it is said they will be 'spewed out of the mouth of God.'... God has little patience with those weak souls who say to themselves, ' I shall go this far and no farther.' What would a king say of a subject, or a master of a servant, who only served him in his own way, who feared to care too much for his interests, and who was embrassed in public because of belonging to him? What will the King of Kings say to us if we act like these cowardly servants?"

"4 the Name" Christ Followers will not be cowards. They will be brave hearted men and women with the war cry of "Jesus is the Christ (Acts 5:42)!"

Let me stress Fenelon's first quote again, "There is only one way to love God: to take not a single step without Him, and to follow with a brave heart wherever He leads."