Preach Always!

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

Francis of Assisi

I am a preacher of the Gospel. It's what I was born to do. I love to share the Words of eternal life! The obvious reason is:

"How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" (Romans 10:14-15)

I have been thinking a lot about preaching in these first few months of my formal ministry. It's easy to think about preaching simply in the terms outlined in the passage above. After all, what could be a greater thrill than standing before a crowd and boldly testifying of God's grace? I can tell you nothing gives me a greater thrill!

Last night however, something struck me afresh. We are all to preach the Gospel. Not only that, but some of the most powerful sermons are not preached anywhere near a pulpit.

Consider the following examples:

• The homeschool mom who in addition to teaching English, reading, and math, preaches love and compassion to her little boy as she wipes his tears and bandages his scraped knee.
• The loving granddaughter who waits with her grandfather in the hospital waiting room and joyfully listens to his stories. She keeps his mind (at least somewhat) off grandma's surgery. She gives him one of her most precious resources--her time.
• The Dad who works hard all week then comes home and takes his girls to an all-day rabbit show, so that his wife can fly across the country to care for her granddaughter--and the grandmother who takes great delight in simply holding her sleeping granddaughter.

I am a preacher so I certainly don't want to take away from any who have been called to this work. In fact, I encourage you to do it with all your might! But we would do well to remember that while some may fall asleep during our sermons (I've had it happen to me, and I must admit, I've done it to others) those we know and love would be hard-pressed to forget the sermons of "love in action" we can all preach daily!

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 4:17-18)

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and preach! Your "congregation" is waiting!

"The preaching that this world needs most is the sermons in shoes that are walking with Jesus Christ."

D.L. Moody

Speaking4Him,

Andrew

50,000,000...a big number!

50,000,000

50,000,000 is big number. Consider the following facts:

• 50,000,000 days =137,000 years
• 50,000,000 feet=9,450 miles
• 50,000,000 people=roughly 5 times the population of Michigan (10,045,697)
• 50,000,000=the number of babies aborted since January 22, 1973 when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in all fifty states, at any time, for any reason!

For the last 37 years we've been killing our future! Who knows how much good all these babies could be doing today? How many expert lawyers, genius doctors, or other revolutionary minds has our society forfeited benefiting from because they didn't have a choice to live? We'll never know...

I know that this a broad issue and I won't try to touch on everything, but I want to talk for a moment on when a baby becomes a baby. Some people try to make the argument that a baby becomes a baby when (or shortly before) the baby is born.

The next question becomes what does "shortly" mean? Is it at 8 months? Seven? Well, I was born at six months along and I was "100%" baby!

The Bible says:

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee." (Jeremiah 1:5)

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." (Psalm 139:14)

God ordained life, and we should support life and be willing reach out to women in crises and to share life affirming solutions. For more info go to http://www.rtl.org/

"Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide."
~ Ronald Reagan – Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation ~

Speaking4Him,

Andrew Gommesen

God's Man

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." Judges 6:12

What comes to mind when you read these words? Maybe you picture a big burly man armed to the teeth and dressed for battle. He is the oldest in his family and his family is part of the society elite. He is chomping at the bit to undertake whatever it is God may ask. Sounds good, doesn't it? I mean that's the kind of man to whom I would give the above comendation.

A closer look at the passage paints quite a differant picture "And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites." Judges 6:12

This is the story of Gideon. He was in Israel at the time of the Judges. He was hiding in a winepress thrashing wheat so the enemy would not see him and take it--or his life. He knew he wasn't much. "And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (v. 15)

God had other plans. He said "Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man." (v. 16) What a promise! To sum up the rest of the story, Gideon and his 300 men defeated the powerful Midionite Army by the hand of the Lord!

This story gives me hope. I am grateful that God looks past what we are to what we can be if we trust Him. When God called Gideon a mighty man a valor, he was anything but. God knew his potential and commended him on that basis.

I am nothing special. I've spent most of my live in a wheelchair. I've never run the mile or bench pressed anything. I'll probably never be rich or famous and beyond my family and friends I won't be remembered after my death. But I cling to the truth of the following passages:

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

I may never do anything the world considers noteworthy, but if I can love and serve The Lord Jesus Christ and raise a family to do the same, I will be a "mighty man of valor" in God's eyes.

~~God is not looking for brilliant men, is not depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to the use of talented men in sending His gospel out in the world. God is looking for broken men who have judged themselves in the light of the cross of Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God. ~~H. A. Ironside

Speaking4Him,

Andrew Gommesen