Often I have heard my soul-winning partners tell the people to whom they are witnessing (and, ok... I've said it myself), "Well, we aren't trying to take people from their churches..." I've often thought to myself, as I hear it come from their mouths (or hear it come from mine), "Are we lying to these people?"  The truth is, I DO ultimately want people to come to our church and become a part of the work; and if the people to whom I am speaking are going to a bad church that teaches poor doctrine, I DO want them to stop going there.

So here are some points that I think we should clarify:

1.  What we really mean is, "We are here with the sole purpose of giving you the gospel.  Though we would love for you to come check out our church, let's get to the heart of why we are here."

2.  If a person hears the gospel and chooses to put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation (contrary to what they have been taught in their church), it should be pointed out that their church is probably not teaching the same thing.  Whereas it is not our goal to "take people from their churches," we don't want people to go where false doctrine is taught.

3.  If a person is saved, and their church is teaching the right gospel, I still want them to know about our church and what it teaches:

• We use the KJV Bible.
• We are big on soul-winning.
• We love preaching/teaching and are less focused on "programs."
• We encourage the family to worship together with the whole church, and though we have a "mother/baby room," we don't provide nurseries and children's classes.
  
  

Now, to some this might sound like we don't want people to come to our church at all.  However, we want to be very up front about our church and what they can expect if they visit.  It could be that some are in a church that is not a good fit for them and they are looking for a church more like ours.

I personally have no problem with someone finding another church if we aren't meeting their needs and they can serve the Lord better elsewhere.  It isn't usually a good feeling to know someone doesn't "like" our services, but it is a reality.


So, are we trying to take people from their churches?  I would have to say...no.  That isn't our goal.  If it happens, it happens; but that isn't why we go out door to door and talk to people.  We are not in competition with other churches.  We don't figure out what they are doing and try to do it better.  We don't base our programs and special events with the mindset of drawing church goers from their churches.

The Bible says "go into all the world and preach the gospel."  So, they don't have to come to us, we are going to go to them.  And if anyone is interested in joining up with us, and if they can grow and serve the Lord better with our assembly than they can were they are... come on!

Introduction:
 
  It is good that, from time to time, we are reminded of the Holy Ghost/Spirit (notice those two words are interchangeable).  We often speak of the Father and the Son, but neglect to speak of the Holy Spirit. This is probably due to our lack of understanding when it comes to the Holy Spirit, especially with many modern day confusions regarding His role.
 
In studying the Holy Spirit in the Bible, we find other names such as:

• Spirit of the Lord
• Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2)
• Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9)
• The Spirit
• The Comforter (particularly in John 14-16)

 
The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity (Ex: Luke 3:22, 1 John 5:7), and as such He is sometimes (as with all three persons of the Trinity) simply referred to as “God.”
 
The Holy Spirit comes upon people

He works miracles and fills a person with special wisdom and ability.

• Birth of Christ (Luke 1:35)
• Saves our souls and keeps us

            - “Living water” (John 7:37-39)     
            - Renews (Titus 3:5)
            - Seals (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30, )

• Baptism of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 3:11, Matthew 28:19)
• Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5, Romans 14:17, 2 Corinthians 6:6)
• Skills or “gifts” (Exodus 31:3, Luke 11:13, 1 Corinthians 12:4)
• All throughout the book of Judges, for example, the Spirit comes upon warriors to give them strength and ability to fight.
• He inspires prophecy    

             - In various individuals (Mark 12:36, Luke 1:67, Acts                       1:16)
             - In those by whom we have received the Bible (2 Peter
               1:21)
 
The Holy Spirit speaks to people and leads them

• He sends (Acts 13:4)
• He forbids (Acts 16:6)
• He selects/calls (Acts 13:2, 20:28)
• He impresses on us to give (Exodus 35:21)
• He teaches (1 Corinthians 2:13)
• He helps us to pray (Romans 8:26, Jude 1:20)

 
Certain works of the Spirit can be resisted

• "Resisting" the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51)
• "Blaspheming" the Holy Ghost (Mark 3:29)
• "Quenching" the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

1.  Blasphemy  ("impious or profane speaking of God or               sacred things," early 13c)

• Interestingly, if you consider what we call it when someone says a “bad word,” it pretty much always has a religious origin (“Swear,” “curse/cuss,” “profanity,” “vulgarity”…).
• When the Bible speaks of blaspheme, it means "to ascribe to someone or something else that which belongs to the Lord."
  - The enemies of the Lord blaspheme because of David’s      sin (2 Samuel 12:14).
  - Rich men blaspheme the name of the Lord (James 2:7)
  - Blaspheme against the Holy Ghost (Mark 3:29)
• Ways we can blaspheme with our words:
  - Taking the Lord’s name in vain.  
  
    Exodus 20:7  “Thou shalt not take the name of the              LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him        guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 
          - Claiming something is from God when it actually goes                  against God’s word.
          - Claiming something that came from God is evil

            Isaiah  5:20 “ Woe unto them that call evil good, and                    good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for 
            darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for   
            bitter!”

2.  Cursing ("to wish evil to; to excommunicate," or "to                   swear profanely, use blasphemous or profane language" is         from early 13c)

•  James 3:10 “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things
  ought not so to be.
  
  
  • Cursing mother and father (Mark 7:10 [from Leviticus 20:9])
    - “I hope you die”
    - “Damn you!” (a curse, and also “damn” can be              wrong because it is profane
    
  • “Taking something sacred and making it common and meaningless.”) 
    
  • This is why, if your kid uses such words flippantly,    they need to be chastened. 
    

                    - We decided not to allow our kids to say “dang or                          darn”… or “gosh” or “geez”… (doesn’t mean if                                someone else does they are necessarily sinning)

3.  False witness

• Obviously, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” is another commandment given by God.
• Isn’t it interesting that 2 out of 10 commandments have to do with words we say (taking the name of the Lord in vain and bearing false witness).
• In the OT, if you intentionally bore false witness, you would be punished as if you had committed what you said someone else did.

4.  Self Praise

• Proverbs 27:2  “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips
  
  
• Proverbs 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.”
  
  
• 2 Corinthians 10:12  “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measure in themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." 

​

• 2Co 10:18  “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.”          

​

• 2Co 12:11  “ I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.”

• These may not necessarily prove that self praise is a sin, but I think we can all agree that pride is sinful, and thinking we are praise worthy is pride (if we say we have no sin, we lie… and that is a sin!)

5.  Inappropriateness

• (Ephesians 5:4) – Filthiness, foolish   talking, jesting (mocking/railing)

                - This would include “locker room banter”
                - This would include racial slurs
                - This would include making fun of people (fat jokes,                      bald head jokes)

6.  Flattery

• Flattery is a tool to get something out of someone else. 
• Don’t think flattery is a virtue!

                - Pr 29:5  A man that flattereth his neighbour                                  spreadeth a net for his feet.
                               
                - 1Th 2:5  For neither at any time used we flattering
                  words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God
                  is witness:
   

• It is also important that we speak the truth rather than “flattery” (which is false witness anyway.)            

 
                 -Pr 28:23  He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall                        find more favour than he that flattereth with the                          tongue.
 
7.  Silence (when a word SHOULD be spoken)

• When we know we need to say something and we  quench the spirit

                               

•  Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

               

•   When we fail to pray for one another (1 Samuel 12:23 –      notice “sin against the Lord”)
• This is what some call the sin of omission.
• What about failing to preach the Gospel with our lips?

                               
                - Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come,                      and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not                   warned; if the sword come, and take any person                          from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;                      but his blood will I require at the watchman’s                                hand.
                               
                 - Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a                         watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou                       shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them                         from me.


Conclusion:
We are going to misuse our tongue and our words all the time.  Sometimes it might seem pretty minor, and sometimes it will be an abomination to God.
 
Let me clarify, that what comes out of the man is a matter of what is in the heart!

Mt 15:19  “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:”

​So, the main thing is to keep working on the heart, not trying to clean up the outside to impress people.

I've never watched Harry Potter.  When it first came out I remember it being strongly preached against in my Bible-believing circles.  I heard how it glorified witchcraft, which is strongly condemned and forbidden in the Bible.  It was claimed that the author herself was a witch (although, after doing a quick research, it looks like she claims that she was only interested in the dark arts and extensively studied them in order to write the books).  Anyway... that isn't the point of this article.

Recently, as I was researching mandrakes for a sermon I was preparing, I discovered that Harry Potter apparently used some of the folklore of the mandrake by creating these characters such as the one shown above.  Without watching the movies or reading the books, I can form a few ideas about these characters based on the history of mandrakes.

First, in case you aren't sure, let me explain the background of the sermon.  I preached a message called "Trying to Get Ahead of God" where we briefly looked at the story of Rachel and Leah and their battle over who would bare the most children for Jacob.  In this story, Rueben finds mandrakes in the field and brings them to his mother, Leah.  When Rachel finds out Leah has them, she tries to make a deal with her to use the mandrakes for her own benefit (Genesis 30:14-16). 

I always assumed there was some sort of superstitious belief, or an old wives' fable that made her think that these mandrakes were going to help her situation.  After all, this same Rachel later steals her father's idols before leaving his house.  Admittedly, I don't know why she stole them, but it leads me to believe she was superstitious.  When you compare that to the part where Jacob is pealing white spots on sticks in hopes that the cattle that looked at the stick would produce offspring that were spotted, ringstraked, and speckled; you have to assume superstition was a pretty common thing in that family.

Before studying it out, I really had no idea what a mandrake was.  All I could think in my head was "mangrove" (a tree whose roots grow down into the water), and I never really looked that deeply into it.  Then, when I decided to look it up, I saw a few things immediately:

• The reason it is called a "man" drake is that the root resembles a man.
• It is a potent stimulant whose side-effects can include: blurred vision, dilation of the pupils, dryness of the mouth, difficulty in urinating, dizziness, headache, vomiting, blushing and a rapid heart rate, hyperactivity and hallucinations.
• They were often formed into amulets which were believed to bring good fortune, cure sterility, etc.
• There are legends that claimed that people who pull up this root will be condemned to hell. 
• And there were claims that the mandrake root would scream and cry as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it.

One can quickly see why modern day fiction writers would be interested in this folklore... especially when it comes to Hollywood and visual effects.  And, for obvious reasons, this became a popular ingredient for witches to use in their concoctions (brews, ointments... "magic potions").  Because of its hallucinative properties, it was apparently used in witches' "flying potions" (I'm not sure where the notion of witches flying on brooms came from... but maybe some hallucinated and were convinced that is what they were doing).

​This doesn't necessarily prove that Rachel was superstitious or that she believed these plants had "magical power," but it seems to validate the notion that she was seeking help outside of God and taking matters into her own hand.  Like Rachel, we are often tempted to turn to the advice of worldly "doctors," drugs, old wives' tales, or (even worse) superstitious practices and "curious arts" to help get us out of a situation or to gain something that God didn't necessarily intend for us to have.

Doctors have their place, medicine has its place... but let's try not to get ahead of God and seek after things without first seeking Him and being content with such things as we have.


I'm reminded of King Asa:

2Ch 16:12  And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians.
  

  The word circumcise comes from two words: “Circum” meaning “around” (think about the word “circle”) and “caedere” meaning “to cut” (think about our word “scissors”).  Though circumcising a male infant might seem barbaric to some, many people continue to have their sons circumcised.  In modern times, it isn’t typically practiced as a religious conviction, but it is often considered to be a matter of hygiene... or, many times, a parent simply does it because it is what their parents did. 

​In this lesson, we are simply going to look at the significance of circumcision according to the Bible, and how it applies to us today.
 
I.             Circumcision was a covenant among the Jews.               
               A.    The practice began before the Law was given to                            Moses.
                                1.    The practice began with Abraham and                                             his house  (Genesis 17:10-14, 23-27,                                               21:4).
                                2.            The practice was expected of                                                             Moses before he received the Law                                                   (Exodus 4:26).              
                B.            It was of course given in the Law of Moses                                     (Leviticus 12:3).
                                1.            The practice had already gotten                                                       away from the children of Israel as                                                   they wandered through the                                                               wilderness (Joshua 5:1-9)
                                2.            This would apply to converts as                                                        well (Exodus 12:44, 48; ).
                                                a.            Consider the famous story                                                                 of the slaying of Shechem                                                                 and the men of his city                                                                       (Genesis 34:15-30)
                C.            It was continued among the Jews into the                                       New Testament.
                                1.            John the Baptist (Luke 1:59)
                                2.            Jesus (Luke 2:21)             
                                3.            “The circumcision” was a biblical                                                     reference to Jews (Acts 10:45, 11:2,                                                 Galatians 2:9, Titus 1:10)
                                4.            Paul (Philippians 3:5)

II.            The physical act is a picture of what should happen                      spiritually
                A.            “Circumcision of the heart” (Deuteronomy                                    30:6, Jeremiah 4:4)
                B.            “Uncircumcised lips” (Exodus 6:12, 30)

III.           The Bible makes it clear that the physical act of                              circumcision is of no spiritual value to us today.  
                 A.            This was something Paul disputed often                                           with believers of the circumcision (Acts                                          15:1-10).
                                1.            Interestingly, he did have Timothy                                                   circumcised to appease the Jews                                                       (Acts 16:3).
                                2.            This was of no value in the end.
                B.            The practice itself was of no value, even to                                      the Jews, if one didn’t intend on                                                        keeping all the law (Romans 2:25-29,
                                1 Corinthians 7:19, Galatians 6:13).
                C.            In Christ, we don’t need to identify with “the                                 circumcision” (Colossians 3:11).
                D.            Our faith is what is counted for                                                       righteousness (Romans 3:30, 4:9-11,                                               Galatians 5:6, 6:15).

IV.          Baptism is a similar symbol for believers today                              (Colossians 2:11-15).
                A.            Baptism is done out of obedience to God’s                                     command and it is a picture of that which is                                   spiritual.
                B.            Some will actually use this as an argument                                     for baptizing babies (if they were
                               circumcised on the eighth day, then why                                         should we not baptize on the eighth day?)
                C.            What they fail to realize is that circumcised                                   babies were identifying as part of a physical                                   family, but New Testament baptism                                                 identifies someone as part of a spiritual                                         family (and we aren’t born into that family                                     until we are saved).   

This is a saying that I've become familiar with when it comes to sharing or recommending religious material with others.  I might share a link to a sermon with a friend and give this disclaimer: "I don't agree with everything that this guy teaches, but... you know... eat the meat, and spit out the bones, right?" 

(Most people I would share such things with get what I am saying and don't write me off as a heretic... most.)

Seriously though, this is a genuine concern.  Should we, as Christians, expose ourselves to the opinions of others who may disagree with some of the teachings and standards we grew up being taught?  Most people would say "Of course, that is ridiculous!"  However, there are a few things to consider when it comes to what we watch and what we listen to.   

As someone who has been a Christian for nearly 40 years, went to Bible college, and has now been in full-time ministry for around 12 years (8 years as an assistant pastor and going on 4 years as a pastor); the reality is, I am quite confident that I can read any commentary or listen to any preacher, and it isn't going to cause me to stumble or be "carried about with every wind of doctrine."  Where I am in what I believe, or how I go about searching out Biblical truths, just doesn't really lend itself to any serious dangerous risks.

But how do we know when someone is or isn't ready to branch out into considering opposing viewpoints?  Because there is definitely a danger in false teachings!  Consider the following verses:

2 Timothy 2:2 "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

2 Timothy 3:14 "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them"

Titus 1:9 "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."

It seems like Paul was serious about making sure the men he taught would continue holding to his teachings and passing them on to others.  So, it would seem counterproductive then to share with them teachings from others who disagree with him.  How do we know to what extent we should take this principle?

Here are 3 thoughts to consider:



1.  We don't give babies meat! 


It is good and right to feed a baby milk and not meat; they aren't ready for it.  Spiritually speaking, there is no difference.

1Peter 2:2  "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby"

Hebrews 5:13-14  "For every one that useth milk [is] unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. (14)  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

So, new believers should just stick with reading the Bible, and it is good and right for their pastor (or parent, if they are children) to "de-bone" any meat they might feed them.  They don't have to understand everything, they just need to learn to walk with the Lord and increase in faith.


2.  It is good for grown-ups to eat meat with bones in it.  


There are studies that have provided good evidence to the superior nutritious value of eating meat that has bones in it.  There are vitamins and minerals that you just can't get from a chicken nugget or a fish stick!  And actually, the meat even tastes better!

Besides, when you grow up, you just can't keep having people de-bone your meat and cut it up for you.  You need to learn and grow.  If you accidentally bite into a bone, or maybe one even starts to get stuck a little in the back of your throat, it will help you learn how to cough it up, and you will get better at discerning what to eat and how to eat it in order to avoid chocking. This is part of learning and growing.


3.  Regardless of one's age or experience,  the more bones in the meat, the more danger there is in choking. 

In spite of what I just said in point 2, there is still a danger for anyone who eats bones.  Really, why would we want to take a chance at it?  Isn't it pretty miserable to eat certain fish, for example, that have too many bones in them? (I was told that drum are that way, but discovered myself that they come out just fine if you cook them right.  Carp, on the other hand, I have never eaten because I just took the advice of people I trust... and because I don't have a pressure cooker...).  I don't really like having to pick through the fish searching for bones.  It is frustrating to constantly go "Ope, there's a bone... there's another... and another."  At that point, I realize I should have just picked another protein to eat! 


Regardless of what some people say, I never get tired of milk!  I drink it all the time.  And if I never drank anything, I would die of thirst.  However, I have no problem, and even enjoy the benefit of eating meat.  I like the flavor and the texture of meat when it has bones in it, and I enjoy the health benefits, too...

The same is true spiritually speaking.  If I just studied the opinions of others, I would die of thirst.  I need the Bible!  I need to just read it and be content not having all the answers. 

But then, I'm also very thankful for all the men of God I have had in my life that worked hard at de-boning my meat and cutting it up for me.  It helped me learn and grow.  It kept me from choking.

Now, I'm grown and have learned to de-bone my own meat.  I enjoy variety.  I enjoy sharing opinions with others and considering different "flavors."  But I have also learned that I need to bring up "baby" Christians carefully.  I need to keep them on the milk, and introduce to them little bite sized bits of boneless chicken nuggets, and fish sticks, and  hamburgers and hotdogs... things they can safely handle.  And when people begin to grow and they start eating meat with bones, I need to warn them to be careful.  And then I need to let them learn to spit out their own bones.

Hope that makes sense.  Feel free to comment and share your opinion.  If you agree or disagree, I don't care... I'll spit out the bones.

There was a time when I stopped using the term "soul-winning" because I had been told it was taking scripture "out of context" and that it was misleading people about what evangelism was.  I certainly didn't want to twist the Word of God, neither did I want to be misleading. In this article I will explain why I came to believe that it is not twisting scripture nor misleading people, but first let's make sure we understand where the term came from.

​Proverbs 11:30 says "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."​ 

Clearly, 'he that winneth souls" can be called a "soul-winner." So, though I don't know when the first person started calling door-to-door evangelistic efforts "soul-winning," it is pretty clear to see that this is the part of scripture to which they are referencing.  But what did he mean by "winning souls?"

​Compare this to the words in Daniel 12:3,

"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."

According to the Bible, "they that be wise" and "they that turn many to righteousness" shall shine as the stars and the brightness of the firmament... and that sounds a lot like "he that winneth souls is wise." 

Now, I'm sure someone will say "But that is the Old Testament and people weren't preaching Christ back then."  Well, the extent to which they were preaching Christ is not the point of this article, so let me just try to carry this Old Testament phrase over to the New Testament:

In 1 Peter 3:1, Peter explains how a woman can possibly "win" her husband by the way she lives (her "conversation").

"Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that , if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives."

Now, we know that a person can't put their faith in Christ if they haven't heard Him preached from God's Word,

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." -Romans 10:17

However, I believe the point is that a person is more likely to be interested in the Gospel when it is preached if they have seen the goodness of God demonstrated in the person who is preaching it.

According to Paul, he was trying to "save some" by his preaching.

1 Corinthians 9:22
"To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

So, if the argument is that one doesn't think "we" do the "winning" of a soul, but rather Christ does the winning, then I don't suppose one would be content with the term "soul-saving" either... but that is an option, I suppose.

Another argument some might have is, "Sure, you can 'win' someone to the Lord, but you don't have to do it by knocking on doors and talking to people at their own homes."  To that I would agree that we don't "have to" go door to door to go soul-winning.  We could try to win souls in the market places or at the synagogues or at various other meeting places, as the early disciples of Christ did.  We could (and should) try to reach our co-workers on our break time, try to reach our extended family at social gatherings... but does anyone really think that knocking on doors is not soul-winning?  How about the examples we have where Jesus sent disciples door to door (Matthew 10:5-14, Luke 9:1-5)?  We might not be doing it exactly the way they did, but they were certainly going to houses.  Then, we see the early church in Acts 5:42,

"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Finally, some are just bothered by the word "win" as it might imply that we are playing a game and just trying to get as many people to "say a prayer" without truly believing in Jesus.  "Rather, we should be 'soul-warning'?" they demand.  Well, OK, I'm all for warning people... but along the way, I anticipate that some will be "won."  In fact, I have no doubt, because the Bible says,

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." -Psalm 126:6 



At Iola Baptist Temple, we take very seriously Christ's command to "Go ye into all the world."  We have several experienced soul-winners who love helping people who want to step out on faith and join along as a "silent partner."  You can be part of the effort as well as gain knowledge and experience from watching others.  And in time, if you'd like, you can start preaching the Gospel and "winning souls."  

See our course on soul-winning (given as part of our 2021 Focus on Evangelism Conference)
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A few concerned members have asked me if I would be willing to provide a letter for a religious exemption from the vaccine.  I realize that not all of our members are in absolute agreement on the issue, but some (including my family and me) have stood against any mandate that would force people or punish people into receiving the vaccine against their will.  I certainly feel like there is a religious view involved in the decision, and that it is more than a political view or a preference.

​If anyone is interested, here is the letter I am making available.

A while back I wrote an article on here called What is KC Mission after struggling a bit to explain to people what we were doing in the KC area. In that article, I mentioned that I originally thought of calling the work "Project Samaria" and that I would have to explain that another time. Well, I thought  today I would take a stab at writing that article.

First, I should state that I believe every church body should be independent and should have their own global vision for the work of Christ.  When we read the words in Acts 1:8,

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth," 

even thought that was given to a physical group of believers that existed during that time, I believe we should take that same command personally.  The command was given by Christ to "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature."

Working with other churches is wonderful, and I'm not against that in any way.  I am happy to join up with other churches for special events or to help them knock doors, etc.  In fact, when our church goes to different towns to preach the Gospel, we try to find a like-minded church that is closer to them that we can recommend.  We use their Gospel tracts or invites if possible.  I believe all God's children are in this together.  However, I believe our goal should be to go into all the world, just like the first church did.

It actually took the first church, however, a little while to start going into all the world.  We don't see it until Acts chapter 8. After Stephen in martyred and the church in Jerusalem begins to be under heavy persecution, they begin going into other regions.  Specifically in this chapter, they go to Samaria (remember, "...both in Jerusalem, all in all Judea, and in SAMARIA..."). 

Well, looking at a map, you can see that Iola is surrounded by a lot of small towns.  We are committed to knocking doors in both Iola and in all our "Judea" which I have seen as a radius around us of about 30 miles.  My vision for years has been to focus on areas where members of our church live and working on evangelizing those areas, also inviting them to come to our services and providing rides if necessary.

Ultimately, we have to use the resources God gives us. Having a small congregation, and not a lot of people able to evangelize their areas with us and provide rides, etc. for those who want to follow Christ with us; we continue to work those areas slowly and wait for Christ to build His church as He sees fit.

Then, after spending a year praying for laborers that would help us accomplish more in spreading the Gospel in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, etc., a door opened with some like- minded friends in the KC area (more like 90 miles away).  Though there are tons of good churches in the area with which they could have continued, they shared in the vision of our church and in many of our methods and practices of which they wanted to be a part.  We began working together and ultimately came up with a plan for them to join our church and stay planted where they were.

If you consider what happened in Acts 8, what we are doing isn't much different.  Phillip and others went and planted themselves in Samaria, while the apostles stayed in Jerusalem continuing the work.  As the believers send from Jerusalem reached souls in Samaria, which was about about 45 mile from Jerusalem (considering modes of transportation, that was considerably further away than the 90 miles we travel to KC), they would get word back to Jerusalem (considering their modes of communication, that was not an easy task like it is for us today with phones and cellphones and computers and internet...), and then some of the apostles would go to Samaria and work with the converts, equipping them to be part of the work.

Below is the story from Acts 8.  I would love to see every church have a "project Samaria."

Acts 8:4-8, 14-17
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​4 ¶  Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
5  Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6  And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7  For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed [with them]: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8  And there was great joy in that city.

14 ¶  Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
15  Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
16  (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17  Then laid they [their] hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.