Emerging Evangelists

The Importance of Prayer by Kevin Senapatiratne

A little over four years ago I left my role as senior pastor at a church to travel as an evangelist. I started a ministry called Christ Connection where I am head spiritual pyromaniac. We are a ministry to encourage pastors, bring hope to smaller churches, and raise up a movement of prayer. When I speak at church I most often speak on the importance of prayer in their lives. This week I was reflecting on nine years as a senior pastor and was challenged again on the importance of prayer in the life of the traveling preacher. Although a senior pastor needs to live a life of prayer the traveling minister has unique challenge that require a life leaning deep in conversation with God.

1. The traveling minister does not know the individuals in the audience like a local pastor. When I was the pastor of a church each service I would speak at I could look out and see many faces that I already knew their story. I could look into the eyes of a couple going through a hard time or a single lady dealing with loneliness. As a traveling minister and evangelist we must bring a message from God for these individuals without knowing their story. I love it when someone comes up to me after a service and says, “That hit us right between the eyes” or “That is just what we needed to hear.” I am challenged again to head back in to my time with God to get more to share at the next place I speak.

2. As a traveling minister I am learning a church culture as an event is happening. As a senior pastor I was very aware of the culture of my church. As a matter of fact, God often used me to help create the culture of the church that I led. But now that I am traveling I often don’t know much about the church before I get there. I do my best to learn something about the church by talking to the pastor or visiting their website, but often when I get to a church on a Sunday morning there is a lot left to be learned. Even if I am preaching a message that I have preached often before, I must be leaning into the Spirit to bring to that congregation the emphasis that is needed. The vitality of my prayer life gives me the discernment to make the audible or adjustments that are needed.

3. I have learned there is a different expectation for the traveling minister and the local pastor. As a local pastor my job was to continually move people closer to God. When I am brought in to speak at a church there is an expectation to jolt the church forward. It is a little like the difference between the running back and deep threat wide receiver on a football team. The pastor is like that running back who must consistently move the ball down the field with an occasional big gain. The visiting evangelist is that wide receiver that is expected to get big yards every time. Both are needed but the expectation for the traveling minister is just a lot higher. When I was a senior pastor I brought someone in to help take the church to the next level in a certain area. Now that I am traveling I am dependent on a strong prayer life to bring to a church the dramatic results that they need.

Kevin Senapatiratne is the author of the newly released book, Enjoying Prayer: Launching Your God Adventure. You can learn more about it at www.lulu.com/pastorkevins To learn more about Christ Connection visit them online at www.christconnection.cc

My Soul Thirsts for God by Sammy Wanyonyi

Have you ever felt desperate for God? Have you ever, out of desperation for God, become incoherent in your speech before Him? Have you ever prostrated yourself before Him in intense desire for His glory? Have you ever stayed before Him for an hour in speechless surrender and abandonment to His majesty?   

King David demonstrated this kind of intense longing when he yearned, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God; when shall I come and appear before Him?" (Psalms 42:1-2)  

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself groaned in the garden of Gethsemane.  Luke tells us that He was in agony.  His praying was not an easy walk in the park.  He was taking head on the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age and the spiritual wickedness in the high places and it was intense.  He needed every ounce of divine muscle and it was obvious in the natural.  He was praying very fervently, Luke tells us!  We do not know the fullest content of His prayer.  But we know from Luke that it was intense.  It was fervent to the point that His sweat became like drops of blood.  Now that is deep.

 

There are times when I have prostrated before God in intense prayer and when I stood up I realized that my tongue is somewhat bloodied.  My lips are dry.  My brow is full of dry sweat.  My knees are numbed.  My bones ache. My head is pounding.  But I have also found that this kind of intensity leaves me feeling deeply connected to God and deeply caring about the things that He cares about.  

 

Intense prayer changes you.  You may kneel before God with your head and heart full of the list of your cares.  But when you rise from your knees you will realize that your head and your heart are full of God's cares.  You will find that you care about the lost.  You care about the church.  You care about the Kingdom of God growing to influence all of your life and the world around you. 

 

As one gifted in pastoral leadership and evangelism, many people tend to think that I must always be thinking about winning people to Christ as my first priority.  I must constantly be strategizing how to usher some more into the Kingdom.  In fact some have asked me severally how they can grow in their care for the lost and for the Kingdom of God.  How they can win more souls to Jesus.  

 

Well, the truth is that my one and only care is God Himself.  All I am interested in is knowing Him and pursuing Him. He is my one ambition in life and I will not exchange Him for anything less.  There can never be anything more than Himself.  

 

The truth about soul winning is that as you pursue God and grow in intimacy with Him, you get to understand His heart and desire for the salvation of all humankind.  The understanding does not alter your priority. But your priority of God broadens your capacity to attract and usher those who are lost to Christ.  As you grow in fellowship and communion with Him, you experience a transfiguration of your desires and passions.  A transfiguration that may result in your increased capacity to reach out to others.

My good friend Nick Hall (a young evangelist from Fargo, North Dakota) and I love to retreat and pray together.  One such time was yesterday morning.  You see, last weekend Nick had organized an outreach event at the University of North Dakota, Grand Folks.  My wife Suzanne and I travelled to join him at the event.  When he proclaimed the gospel, 962 young people out of the 6000 or so who attended the event indicated decisions for Christ.  That is a marvelous thing in this age of skepticism and postmodernity.  One thing is clear, neither Nick nor I, despite being Seminary trained, have any particularly impressive apologetic skills.  But the one thing we know is God Himself. Or as Nick likes to put it, we pray, God moves! 

 

And so yesterday we bowed in utter adoration to Jesus.  As we adored Him, our hearts were ignited even more. "Lord, we are desperate for you! We are desperate to behold your glory and to peer into your majesty! We are desperate for your touch. Show us your glory and the majesty of your Name! Show us your face for you are our everything! You are the reason for our being. Glorify your name O thou God of renown!"  

What distinguishes the righteous from the rest of the people around us? What distinguishes mere humanly empowered ingenuity from a divinely infused life?  It is the Lord's presence with us. Moses captured it well: "Is it not by your going with us, so that we, I and your people may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?" (Exodus 33:16).  Herein is the key to a transforming life! 

Will you pray right now and throughout this week that God may infuse your heart with a passion for Himself?    

Sammy Wanyonyi is an International Evangelist, Speaker and Christian Author. He is President of Shine in the World International Ministries (SWIM).  With his wife Suzanne, they live in Victoria, MN. 

Faith Connects Two Realities by Chris Palmer

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;"  -Eph. 2:8

The Bible tells us that when we are saved we become sons of God (Rom. 8:16).  We are adopted into the family of heaven and we take on the nature of our heavenly Father (Eph. 4:24).  As children who are highly prized in the eyes of our loving creator, we are recipients of the different graces that God bestows upon us.  In Ephesians 2:8 we are told that the faith that brings salvation is a gift of God.  Anything that is given to us as a gift by God can be utilized to fulfill our intended purpose: "...let them HAVE DOMINION..." (Gen. 1:26).

We are told in Romans 12:3 that EVERY MAN has been dealt the measure of faith.  Paul is not speaking of every man in the world, but rather, every man who has come under the household of faith (Gal. 6:10).  Every born-again person walking this earth has faith in the inner man, whether they are conscious of it or not.  There is such a man walking this earth without faith, however, the Bible calls him "unreasonable and wicked" (2 Thess. 3:2).  

It wasn't enough for salvation to just cover our access into heaven.  Unfortunately, religion has painted a sloppy picture in our minds of the saving power of God.  Salvation is the all-inclusive word of the gospel and incorporates every aspect of our natural human existence (Mk. 10:30).

Faith was given to us by God as a channel of connecting heaven and earth.  James tells us that "every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights..." (James 1:17).  Stop and think about this for just a moment.  Look what this verse just told us.  The good and perfect things of God must COME DOWN.  Until they come down, they remain spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3).  Thank God for spiritual blessings, however, they were never intended to just stay within that realm; they were meant to be sent into this human, earthly realm.  As soon spiritual blessings cross over into this realm of touching, seeing, hearing, tasting, and feeling they become natural blessings or physical blessings.

Not to step on any religious toes or kick over sacred cow, but what good would it have done us if Jesus stayed in heaven?  The prophets would have continued to speak of him coming and it would have brought refreshing to the hearts of the people.  But that is not enough to satisfy the demands of sin.  Despite all the comforting words of prophetic heralding, the human race would have still been stuck under the slave master of sin and death.  The Father knew that the son had to LEAVE HEAVEN, where man cannot touch, taste, see, hear, or feel, and come into the realm where man CAN touch, taste, see, hear, and feel (Phil. 6:6-8).  This was the first and greatest example of a spiritual blessing being made a physical reality.

The procedure of things coming down from heaven has not changed.  It is through earnest expectation and FAITH (Phil 1:20).  Why did Jesus come?  He was expected!  Every time an Old Testament Saint made a blood sacrifice that was faith offered up to God expressing earnest belief that the Messiah was coming.

Putting a demand on heaven with the faith that has been given to us is pleasing to God. When we use our faith to touch heaven, the blessings of God flow.  Faith is the highway that spiritual blessings use to cross over into earthly blessings.  And it is just the opposite.  "By faith Enoch was translated..."(Heb. 11:5).  Faith was the highway that Enoch used to cross from the physical to the spiritual.

Friends, we have FAITH!  It is so pleasing to God when we use it because we stop working under the weak and beggarly elements of this world and start operating as HE does!  When a Father sees his son on the basketball court scoring all the points, while the other team struggles to defend him, the father says, "That' my boy!"  Well when we use our faith, God says, "That's my child!!"

Use YOUR FAITH today.  It is your greatest tool!

Chris Palmer, CPM

Out of Control by Jason Maupin

About a month ago I was flying from Minneapolis to Phoenix when the plane started to have some issues. Smoke started coming into the cabin (which is always a bad sign), the plane started to shake, and people began to panic. The captain got on the intercom and calmly said, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please, the fan in our left engine has just quit working and we are going to have to make an emergency landing in Denver, please remain calm. Flight attendants please prepare for an emergency landing." Needless to say that confirmed everyones fears. I zeroed in on his words "please remain calm." Remain calm I thought, hmm, that's some great advice, why isn't anyone taking it! I always wondered how I would react in a time like that. Would I begin flailing violently, screaming at the top of my lungs, "we're gonna burn! oh my God we're gonna burn!!" Or would I remain calm and be a help to those around me? I'm happy to say although I was afraid on the inside, I remained calm and focused on keeping those around me calm. There was a the lady sitting in my row along with her seven year old daughter. The daughter sat next to the window and when our plane tilted up on its side she said with excitement, "look mommy you can see the ground!" I almost laughed out loud! All her mom could say was, "yeah honey, isn't that something." Seeing she was afraid I began to ask her questions, doing my best to calm her. As she and many others gripped the armrests I thought to myself what can I do to help this situation? If I was Superman I would run to the bathroom change into my tights and cape and carry the plane safely to its destination. I wasn't Superman; I was just a man, and the realization came over me... I can do--nothing. That's a hopeless, humbling feeling. Its especially difficult for a guy to admit they can do nothing. I thought, "there is nothing I can do to keep this plane from crashing." If it was going to crash, it was going to crash. It was oddly calming to realize I could only control how I responded to this situation, but I couldn't control the final outcome. Well, we landed safely on the Denverrunway; ambulances, police and fire trucks rushed in to make sure everyone was safe. As we all got off the plane you could feel the collective sigh of relief. Sensitive to the trauma we had all just experienced, the airline gave each of us a $5 coupon along with their apologies. "Ladies and gentlemen we're sorry we almost killed you today, please except this $5 coupon!" Ha!! That was funny! Seriously, can you even get a cup of coffee for 5 bucks at an airport?

Being in control is something I like. I like being the one in charge. I like to know I can control the outcome. I don't like when I can't see what's coming. Take the ocean for example: I like the ocean if I'm on a boat or on the beach, but treading water in the ocean freaks me out because I can't see what's below me! I'm a planner. I like to know I have several options. I feel bad for saying this, but being on that plane was almost freeing knowing I wasn't in control anymore; knowing I couldn't fix anything. I had to completely surrender my fears, hopes, dreams, future, everything and everyone. What will happen to my wife if I don't make it through this? What will my brother and mother do? All my what ifs' were completely put to a slamming halt when I realized I was completely helpless. I felt like a baby needing someone to feed or change me--completely and utterly helpless. And you know what? It felt good! I felt like in the midst of the smoke coming into the cabin and the plane beginning to shake that I could relax. Sounds crazy right?

There's something to be said about not being in control, or better yet being able to admit you're not in control. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." The key is His will not our will; there's a big difference. I love in Luke 8 where Jesus and his disciples are in a boat crossing the lake. It says that after they started across the lake Jesus settled down for a nap and then a violent storm hit. The disciples woke him up shouting, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" In the message he says, "Why can't you trust me?" I guess you could say their plane's engine failed, all hope was gone and they were no longer in control. What would have happened if instead of waking him one of the disciples stopped them and said, "hold up! This guy's done a lot today, he healed a Roman officer's servant without even going to his house, he healed a man with leprosy, he raised a widow's son from the dead, healed Peter's mother-in-law, and then cast out several demons from people! He's tired let him sleep. Besides if he can do all of that then he can get us safely through this storm." Now that would have been faith. Trusting that God's will would be done. It's easy to say, but much harder to practice.

What if God's will is for the plane to crash, or the boat to sink? Would we be fine with that? You can tell a lot about someone's character when they're not in control. How do they respond during crisis? Are you a control freak? Do you have to always know the plan? Can you give the controls over to the pilot and say, "you're trained for this, I'm not, you land the plane." There's something freeing about not being in control. Give up the controls of your life to the ultimate pilot, Jesus Christ. I promise you, you will be less stressed knowing he's flying. Much love!

Jason Maupin, Elevate Industries

Evangelism According to Starbucks by Matt Brown

If you haven't read it yet, Pour Your Heart Into It by Howard Schultz is one of the greatest books available today.  Inspiring, practical and encouraging, especially for entrepreneurs like those of us called into evangelistic ministry.  

Schultz is the founder of Starbucks as we know it today.  Although he came on after Starbucks had already been a coffee bean seller, he envisioned and propelled Starbucks in much the same way as Walt Disney imagined Disney Land.

The bottom line of Starbucks has always been undeniably it's passion for great coffee.  It may be introducing more and more items to the menu and trying to take on giants like McDonalds, but it's DNA is good coffee.  Even it's newest product VIA, instant coffee - something that shocked coffee fanatics across the country - took them 20 years to produce to a quality level they felt comfortable enough to produce.

A recent study was done by Consumer's Reports on the world's best coffee, and supposedly Starbucks was way down on the list, but I'm a little skeptical (and maybe a little biased too).  First off, they were testing ground coffee, which right away sets off an alarm - fresh coffee beans is the best and only best way to do great coffee.  Pre-ground automatically decreases the quality of coffee.  Next, who are these randomly chosen coffee taste testers?  I don't drink wine personally, but it would sort of be like people who have never tasted good wine in their lives and who are accustomed to the cheap stuff are suddenly telling the world that the oldest wine isn't good anymore.   

Whether you like Starbucks or not, a lesson is to be learned here for the Church and for us as evangelists.  In the same way as Starbucks, we have many frills and whistles, but the core attraction of the Church, the mainstay if you will, will always be the preaching of the Gospel.  As evangelists, we have many messages on many subjects, including many that will draw a crowd ... but the good stuff, the core of who we are, like Starbucks in their good coffee, is the "foolishness of preaching" (1 Cor. 1:21).

Otherwise, we are nothing more than a Steamer.

Matt Brown, Think Eternity