The Harvest is Ready

Acts 5:42 (NIV)

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

What was the secret of church growth in the Early Church? Obviously the focus of the Church was on the Gospel. That was the “church program.” The Church was continuously proclaiming and teaching the Gospel message. This was done in the temple courts. But this was also carried out from “house to house.”

Today’s church in America seems to be contained within the four walls of the church building. If the church is growing “numerically” the building eventually has to be expanded. If “successful” the church becomes a mega church. That is to say that the church building becomes “supersized.”

How does this model of church fit the great commission?

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.  Mattew 28:18-20

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.   John 4:35

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.“Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. “Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. “Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’   Luke 10:1-9

Street Evangelism

How badly do we want a revival in America? Enough to go out into the street and meet Jesus? Enough to get out of our comfort zone?

Jesus said: “For as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.”

The Emancipation Oak

We have been thinking about sacred places. Certainly the Emanci- pation Oak is one of them. It was under this tree in 1863 that Union soldiers first read the Emancipation Proclamation to the freed African American community of Hampton, Virginia. The shade of the oak served as the first classroom for newly freed men and women.

The irony of this sacred place is that African slaves were brought ashore here. The nearby waters of the Hampton Roads harbor served as a deep natural channel for slave ships of all sizes. It was if God said: “You started something terrible but I am going to put a stop to it here.”

On August 19, 2006, God directed us to pray under the Emancipation Oak. There He asked us to repent for the sins of our nation. We were aware of some of the sins He wished us to address. He gave us a greater awareness of other significant sins which we needed to acknowledge while we interceding for the nation. For more on the specifics of what we prayed press here.

The Emancipation oak is designated as one of the 10 Great Trees of the World by the National Geographic Society.

Forsaking the Covenant — Native Americans

The early settlers made a covenant with God to spread the Gospel in the New World. They could have started with the native Americans. To be sure, the people of the land lacked understanding in many areas (though they had much to teach the colonists.) They were suspicious of the English and difficult to deal with. Yet there were opportunities for evangelism.

One such opportunity had to do with the Kecoughtan Indians in what is now the Hampton peninsula. These Indians were initially friendly. They had greeted the colonists at their first landing site. Captain John Smith celebrated the Christmas of 1608 with them. They were very skilled in agriculture and taught the colonist how to grow corn.

The good relations did not last, unfortunately. On July 9, 1610, after the Kecoughtan Indians killed an Englishman named Humphrey Blunt, Sir Thomas Gates attacked the settlement and drove away the natives. Gates then built two forts there, Henry and Charles, named after the sons of King James I. During that year, the settlers established what is now the oldest Anglican church in America. Regrettably, there is no record of any of the Kecoughtans joining this church.

The colonist truly needed the help of the native Americans. Pocahontas rose to the occasion and helped the colonists. For a season she persuaded her father Powhatan to lend limited support. It is unfortunate that the colonist did not rise above their circumstances and attempt to evangelize these natives. What great allies they might have become in helping to establish a cooperative way of life that would have been of mutual benefit to all. Recall the description of the early Christian Church: “They had all things in common.” This was not to be for the colonists and the Kecoughtans.