Skip to main content
search
Tag

salvation

Aug 16
Love0

I Met Messiah

By Blog, Envision, Media

Our big news of the month is the release of our founder’s testimony, filmed by One For Israel and Chosen People Ministries.  This is one of 50 life stories of Jewish people coming to know Jesus that are being watched and shared by millions of people around the world.

Spread the Word - Share the Video

  • This video is being released TODAY and we need your help.  We need you to watch it, and to go on social media and share it.  The best way to do this is to go to facebook.com/oneforisrael, find his video near the top and click on the Share button.  Just write a quick note to accompany it that explains why you’re sharing it.  If you have trouble finding it (for instance, you’re reading this a while after it was written) you can always visit I Met Messiah.
  • Please do this right now and help accelerate the story so that it catches fire!  This has already happened with one story with over 5 million views.  It’s not about fame – we simply want to get the Gospel to as many people as possible!  Video testimonies of Jewish believers are very powerful to both Jew and Gentile.
  • You will see how effective these tools are, as we help the worldwide Jewish community see how Jewish the Gospel truly is.  Jesus is Jewish, his original disciples were Jewish, the Scriptures are Jewish….  The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob wants to use all of us to reach all the world!
  • Without the Gospel, there is no hope.  We are grateful for your agreement and faithful prayer and financial partnership.  Together, we are joining Jesus in seeking and saving the lost!
Aug 12
Love0

A Fertile Soil

By Envision

Jesus taught the parable of the soils on multiple occasions (also known as the parable of the sower) as recorded three times in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  (Yes, if you read the context, they’re not simply synoptic reprints – they are different events.)  He concludes the teaching by inviting those with a thirst for God to pay heed by saying “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  While this saying may be familiar to many, the intent is overlooked.  Certainly all those in the audience physically had the appendage known as an ear.  In fact, a pair of them.  But Jesus points out that many who have ears don’t use them to listen to truth – they don’t listen to what is important.  Are their hearts available or are they closed off?  He asks his audience to pay attention, because their part in the Kingdom is at stake.

So what is so important to know?  What is it that Jesus wants us to pay attention to, above the noise and distraction of the world?

First, God loves everyone, whether they love Him back or not, whether they even pay attention to Him.  He’s bringing His Word to them and He is extravagant with His generosity.  The sower scatters seed everywhere.  Not just on this spot or that; these regions but not those areas.  Every type of soil receives seed.  Is that wasteful of God to preach His Gospel everywhere?  Is it wasteful if Jesus died for the sins of people who would reject Him?  For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (John 3:16.)  But while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8.)

Jesus wants us to know that He loves us regardless of whether we love Him back.  Pure grace.  An unqualified gift.

Second, people respond differently to God, and there are rewards and consequences of how we respond.  The beautiful part of God’s love is that we must receive Christ’s sacrifice for us through grace, by faith.  It’s not forced upon us, nor is obedience imprinted in our souls.  There is only one type of soil that the Word will thrive in and bear fruit.  So you actually play a part in determining what type of soil you are.

Jesus wants people to know that He loves them, He is available to them, and they need to respond to Him.  Some won’t listen, some won’t respond.  Some will receive Him and become mature and bear great fruit.  Are you open to that?  Do you have ears to hear?

 

Aug 31
Love0

Bringing Chanje

By Envision, Headfirst, Involve, Media

Chanje is the Haitian Creole word for change – for transformation.  We’ve seen the Lord move so dramatically in Haiti this past year, that we’ve begun calling what we do there a “Chanje Movement.”  Being a part of the transformation means being available to the Lord to change myself, my community and my world, however He directs.  This month, we had an amazing team of people participating in that movement.  Some of those highlights are in the video below, and as things progress we will continue to post the stories, photos and videos of transformation in Haiti.

Chanje Movement team in Haiti, August 2012

Dec 05
Love0

Do as Jesus did

By Envision, Headfirst

Our second morning of our men’s mission to Haiti began with a team devotional on the full deity and humanity of Jesus.  What could’ve been a very intellectual topic was instead an insightful conversation about how understanding Christ’s nature influences how we live today.

Our friend Jimmy sharing Christ

Several of our Haitian colleagues were sitting in on the discussion but had not contributed as of yet.  As the topic developed, one of our friends was asked about what followers of Christ could do to demonstrate His love to others here in Haiti.  His simple reply was to “do as Jesus did.”

And though the devotional ran its course without any of us making an intentional goal out of that comment, it unmistakably became our theme infiltrating every part of our labor for the Gospel.  No question about it, each day of ministry felt like it was plucked from the Scriptures; as if we were 1st century disciples.

We went out to the masses living in the streets and fed them and shared the love and hope of Jesus with them.  We walked through a tent city where over 250 families with more than 2000 children lived, and we met and prayed for the mute, the blind, the lame and the demon possessed.  Yes, literally.  We drew away with more than 60 pastors and trained them for ministry, emphasizing the priorities of knowing God and His word, evangelism and discipleship.  We drew a crowd in a park and proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Savior and One True God.  We held children with no parents and poured out the Father’s love.  We sang our worship at the top of our lungs from the depths of our hearts.  We cried with compassion for the broken and lost.  And we prayed to the Redeemer to set the captives free from sin and death.

By conservative count during the week, well more than 20 people found salvation in Jesus Christ – one at a time, five at a time, ten at a time.

Not only Haiti was changed this week, but each of us as well.  Each has a heart alive for the King, and a willingness to live more fully for His Kingdom.  We return to our own neighborhoods and communities with greater vision, passion and more equipped for ministry.  And we will never forget the lives of those we grew to love, friends and co-laborers in the Gospel, and the broken for whom God has broken our hearts.

In short, we did as Jesus did.

Jun 07
Love0

Headfirst in Haiti

By Headfirst

Rick shares how Jesus changed his life

The classic headfirst apostle is Peter – with little regard for how things could be done or should be done, he went for it.  Long before Texas Hold ’em, Peter went “All In.”  On one of our final nights in Haiti, I had the privilege of preaching to a crowd from the community who had come to join us for a free meal at the Center for Hope.  About 200 adults and youth ate, listened to my friend Rick’s story of salvation, and learned about Peter’s courageous decision to step out of the boat (while ~80 children learned about Jesus and played a short distance away.)

All preconceptions are wiped clean when you Read More

Close Menu