We have a purpose on this earth - to glorify Jesus, the Son of Man, who came to the world in order to
redeem the world. 2nd Corinthians 2 speaks to the spread of this good news:
14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.
Through us - His knowledge goes to "every place." What an incredible opportunity of the Church to communicate His truth, to see souls come to Jesus when the truth is shared. We can take seriously our responsibility to radiate the life of Christ, the Son of Man, who came to earth to show us and everyone who would know Him, the way to life, the way to live. We have been entrusted with a wonderful gift that we should not keep to ourselves.
+++++
We know that Jesus is the Son of God, part of the Trinity, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He came to earth to identify with humanity, walking a sinless life and providing a way for us to come into fellowship with Himself and with our Heavenly Father and the Spirit. On this Day 7 of our 25-day
Christmas Advent-ure, we look at the name, "Son of Man." Jesus taught in Matthew 18:
11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?
13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
We're told in 2nd Corinthians 5 that Jesus became sin so that we might know His righteousness. He did not commit sin, which made it possible to redeem fallen humanity.
Jason Woolford is described as a "former Marine sergeant" by The Christian Post who has a desire to spread the message of the gospel around the world through his organization, Mission Cry. And, just a little less than a month ago, according to the Christian Post article:
A container packed with Bibles and books to help build the Church arrived in Albania Nov. 9, said Mission Cry President Jason Woolford. The 27,000 books in the container cost half a million dollars.
It certainly require somes ingenuity and strategy to get these books and Bibles to those who need to know the truth of Scripture. The article states:
To ship the container into the majority-Muslim country, Mission Cry had to carefully navigate bureaucracy, Woolford told The Christian Post. A little over half of Albanians practice Islam, he said. When Muslim workers unloading containers spot Christian book titles, they often notify authorities, who fight the shipment with paperwork.
Woolford named his organization Mission Cry because he sees it as a "battle cry for God," according to the Post. He says, “If people don’t have the Word of God, it’s impossible for them to have the shield and the sword," a reference to the armor of God. The article relates:
To help Mission Cry equip believers, American Christians donate books and Bibles to ship around the world, he said. Mission Cry also prints its own American Standard Bible New Testaments with an attached discipleship program.In over six decades, over $375 million in books and Bibles have been donated and distributed, according to the ministry website. Woolford says, “These were Bibles and Christian books that were sitting on peoples’ shelves in the United States,” adding, “We are the best bang for buck for sending Bibles. It costs us about 30 cents to get the book into the hands of someone overseas. It’s really synergistic.”
Mission Cry’s work is important because most pastors around the world don’t possess their own Bible, he said. In Albania, the Church has grown rapidly, but the number of Bibles remains low.
In an article from earlier this year, Mission Network News reported:
Though the COVID-19 pandemic forced much of the world to shut down, Mission Cry is still sending God’s Word to those in need. Executive Director of Mission Cry, Jason Woolford, explains that the pandemic is making the need for God’s Word even more clear.
He says, “I believe there’s nothing more essential than sending the word of God.”
“We recently sent a container to China and one to Africa. We’ve done that because we understand there’s people that are hurting and the only thing that’s going to help somebody when they’re hurting is the word of God,” he adds.
The world needs the Word, doesn't it? There are some countries who are dedicating to restricting the access of their people to the teachings of Scripture, and that is unfortunate in these days in which people need hope. We can continue to pray for God's Word to be available for the people who so desperately need it.
We also recognize that, as Jason Woolford says, that the Word is essential during these times of a worldwide pandemic. The Church is essential because we manifest the presence of Jesus; He is the Word who became flesh, who became the Son of Man, spoke according to the will of the Father, and showed the way to come to know God. People need to know - we need to make His teachings part of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment