BY BISHOP J.J. HAIRSTON
What happened to our evangelistic culture in our country? Have we forgotten about the Great Commission? What did Jesus Christ say in Matthew 28: 18-20, “18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and, see, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen.”
Are we as evangelistic as the bible teaches here in America? I think not, we do not have enough soldiers on the evangelism battlefield. Being missioner minded is the key to our faith as Christians, and shame on any church that is not welcoming evangelism into its doors. Church is not about the four walls of worship but a way of life. The bible teaches as we go, like unto go you therefore in the text above, we are sharing our faith as a life journey. Sharing the goodness of Jesus Christ is the heartbeat of the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is called the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ who bled and died for the world.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but has everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are worked in God,” John 3: 16-21.

Who responsibility is it to give this light to the world so that he who does truth comes to the light, 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,” Matthew 5: 14-16.

You see the heart of all believers is making sure the person next to you see Jesus Christ in you. In addition, take every opportunity because the days are evil so share your faith. People are lost, helpless and hurting. Some are hungering for the gospel but this is the problem. There are a lot of Churches that are not sensitive to the unfortunate, the poor, the prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, and the cast out. Through my experiences and many other testimonies, people have been turned away from many Churches. Why, because they may look different, smell different or may not have the income level to fit in.

It is not about prestige, position (excluding our position in Christ) or education level, it is about rather you are lost or saved, bottom line. Here in Atlanta many evangelists are involved in mission work reaching out to the homeless. Yet, the question is where will they go after they are saved?

We need to think about and consider our mega Churches, community Churches and mega small Churches what are we doing as a whole too what Jesus came to do in Luke 4: 18-21, “18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say to them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

Jesus came for the lowly, the cast out, the afflicted, abuse and misused. People in general are important but the work of the Church focus is on the cast out God said he is going to make them into a strong Nation, Micah 4: 6-7. Jesus ate and drank with the sinners of the cast out. Yet, God so loved the world that He gave His Only begotten Son to die for all mankind.

We hope that the Church of Jesus Christ will help support the work of crusades all over this country to do what Jesus came to do including the feeding of 5,000 too nourish their bodies as well. Atlanta GA. will be one of the first crusades to cater to the poor, sick and down trodden in 2010. God has anointed Kerry Smith Ministries Evangelistic Crusades to head up this great work all over this Nation. We want to see you there and here at Advancing The Truth will keep you posted on all up coming events.