Thursday, February 26, 2009

MYEVANGELISM






KAISA! THE POWER OF ONE!
By Rev. Gamaliel B. Filio


FOREWORD
I did not plan to put in writing my STAND on Evangelism at this time, not wanting to “rain on anybody’s parade.” But God and events have a way of interfering in the lives of men and who are we to question them? But let me be clear at the outset. Since I am not part of the leadership of Unida Church today, the stand made here is personal to this pastor. Responsibility therefore rest on me and mirrors a whole lifetime of learning the Word of God in Unida Church.

MAIN THESIS
WHEN Jesus said: “GO YE!” HE MEANS YOU. He is talking to you. He is telling you. He is telling each ONE of us. ALL OF US. He is teaching you your true worth - the POWER OF ONE, KAISA! The goal therefore is for EVERYONE to be a gospel-bringer (Lahat Tagapaghatid ng mabuting balita)

SUBTHESIS
GROWTH does not refer to quantity but rather to the quality of a man’s faith. As to how deep the roots of the Word of God is growing, unseen, in those that believed. It is God who is “causing this growth” , not men. It is not how many but what kind of Christians are produced that can make a difference in the world.

ANTITHESIS
THE wisdom of men will try to impose upon the church its own version of the “Way, Truth, and Life.” And for this, churchmen will be used.

SYNTHESIS
JESUS is the only WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. Everything else will fall at the wayside.

DISCUSSION

John 17:11-12
Jesus prayed, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name -the name you gave me- so that they may be one as we are one. “ NIV

John 17:20-21
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” NIV

1 Cor 3:6
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. NASU

Mark 4:26-29
He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." NIV

INGESTING THE WORD OF GOD
These are the words of the Scriptures. INGEST them and God will cause them to grow in you. I know because I saw this miracle in the old members of Unida Church who showed me the way of the Lord in their lives. Picture in your minds the pioneer Unida pastor propagating the word of God “without pay” while others yield to the American dollars and you will realize how strong that faith is.

GO YE MEANS YOU!
“God might have sent angels to evangelize the world. But He did not. He might have broadcast the message from Heaven. But He did not. He might have utilized a heavenly TV, but He did not. God chose to send men, men saved from sin, to win other sinners.” 1

Our main point is that when Jesus said Go ye, he meant that each and everyone should be a bringer of the gospel of the saving grace of God wherever he is and wherever he goes. He did not call only a special group of people to do it but that everybody should be doing it. This is what we are aiming for: Each One a Gospel-bringer. Each ONE to have beautiful feet. How? Rom 10:15 "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" NIV

ONE FOR ONE: EACH ONE, REACH ONE
This is a simple program, a simple plan. The Pastor is to move all to action on to God’s Agenda. To instill in the minds of the people that like Paul all that is being asked of them is to plant and water (translate to “share and explain the words of God”) and God will cause the growth. But he must move all of his members, no exemption, to share and explain the good news and God will do the rest.

This is the power of one. KAISA! In the previous three years we have proven that we can be one and achieve great things to show our nation that we exist and that the Holy Spirit works in us.

GROWTH IS NOT A QUESTION OF NUMBERS BUT OF FAITH
My youngest son, who has gathered and read all that I have written, pointed out to me that his generation has been bombarded with teachings that growth is measured by numbers and since Unida has not achieved big numbers they passed judgment that it failed. And the irony he points out is that many in Unida believed this. But it is not so, he says, because our 75 years show our great faith. He wrote me the email below: (slightly edited)

Dear Dad,
May the spirit of our evangelical founding fathers live in him who stands against the teaching of a different gospel than the one we have received since the beginning.

For while others may refer to it in different names or mask it In different ways, it is obvious that their assumption against us, UNIDA, will always be the same: We are SMALL in numbers so we are NOT growing, therefore we FAILED the Great Commission of Christ.

And where is this assumption coming from? Definitely not from us, UNIDA. Because if they really are with UNIDA since the beginning then they would have shared the same sentiments of UNIDA who has been there since the beginning when the gospel was preached freely during the last century. (1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. NIV”)

How can one assume that there is no discipleship happening in our churches only because they do not see it happening just like in other churches? How can one assume that our small membership reflects a weak commitment to the gospel when we have been doing it for the past 75 years? How can anyone from us feel that we failed our Lord in His call to make disciples just because we cannot show big numbers for the past several years?

We shall mourn the day when UNIDA concedes to this kind of faith. For then we would know that we indeed failed. But our failure will not be failing to grow our numbers but failing to GROW our FAITH.

We would have failed to see the invisible hand of the Master in His church inspite of our few numbers.

“Never underestimate the spirit of a dedicated few.
Although often ridiculed by the society and dismissed by the mighty,
A handful minority has the power to change the entire world.”

En Xristos,
Lance

THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD
But the wisdom of the world will try to encroach upon the church to bring it down under the guise of putting it up. And many will be deceived.

Christianity grew inspite of the world. It is in this world and yet it is not of this world. And because it is and because it lives by God’s wisdom, men and women learned in the ways of the world will try to insinuate themselves into the church to make it appear that they are the ones responsible for its growth. Yet the Bible says: “It is God who is causing the growth”, not men, 1 Corinthians 3:6. Amen.

AFTER ALL THINGS ARE SAID AND DONE...
We finally have Jesus to show us the TRUE “Way, Truth, and Life.” The way of the world confuses and misleads, the truth of the world is suspect, and life in this world ends.

But Jesus guarantees Life without end. He said: John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" NIV. Yes, I do believe.

UNSHAKEABLE ANCHOR. We have to anchor our lives on something that does not move and cannot be moved. A place where the gates of hell cannot prevail. A Kingdom where God reigns. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST that is built upon the Rock that JESUS is the Son of the Living God. There is only One God, there is One Lord, there is only One Saviour by whose Name man lives forevermore – JESUS. THE POWER OF ONE. THE POWER OF LIVE FAITH.