My heart is overflowing with passion for the Gospel this morning as I woke up heavy in heart over the 500,000 possibly dead in Haiti. What a tragedy! If these numbers are true then we have witnessed something that could double the catastrophe in Asia when the tsunami hit and be yet another wake up call to the fragility of human lives. When the world sees these type of things they feel a great sadness and desire to help with physical relief, but the church of the Living God should be compelled to do even more than ever to reach souls and moved with compassion for those who are left in Haiti with lost loved ones and incredible need. We don’t move with a fleshly pity, for who can even fathom the magnitude of devastation in a case like this? We must move with the urgency of Christ, the Lord of the Harvest, as He places within our heart a fresh urgency to herald His Good News and carry His Cross to a dying world.
My dad did a statistic on the tsunami death toll that was very moving to me. If the 250,000 dead were laid next to each other shoulder to shoulder the body bags would stretch 40 miles! This means that if half a million died in Haiti it would be 80 miles of dead bodies. My God, the souls that were not ready for eternity! My God, the people who grew up in the most satanic, voodoo infested nation of the western hemisphere and may have never heard the Gospel! Dear Jesus! Please incite within us a fresh fervor for the lost. May we not wait until tragedy strikes to reflect on what we should have done and then days later move on with our lives. May we live every day and every encounter with the revelation that eternity is coming and the default setting for the human soul is hell!
This morning as I write this blog there is a distinct sound in my spirit of the Master knocking on the door of human hearts. I hear Him calling for anyone and everyone to open the door of their heart through repentance and embrace His marvelous grace by faith. I hear the weeping of the Risen Savior as He longs to take humanity under His wing as a mother with her chicks. I hear the prayers of the saints as those with the heart of Christ march onward toward eternity with purpose and clarity. Dear Jesus, let there be an explosion of passion for Your name and Your Cross within the hearts of complacent believers all over this nation. Let the slumbering Bride be awakened to the moment of destiny before her. The final harvest is here! AWAKE you who sleep in paths of convenience and delusions of religion. Attending church will never save the billions, yes billions, who need the opportunity to hear that name we have become over familiar with, JESUS.
Rev. 3:20 Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. \\\Do you hear the knocking today? He is knocking on every door until their last breath and then the knocking stops! The knocking stopped for those precious souls in Haiti and they will never be able to open the door again.
Amen
You put into words exactly what I felt in my heart and spirit. I pray for all the men and women God is using in Haiti to bring the good news of the kingdom.
Compassion and urgency to share the gospel are so beautifully articulated here. It’s tragic that so many believers don’t believe in hell strongly enough or at all to be disturbed by the number of lost souls passing into an eternity of suffering. Or people are convinced that there is nothing that can be done. What we forget on a moment to moment basis is what the Lord can do with one seed of faith dropped by a spirit filled Christian at a gas station. What happens between a person and our God during a short time buried under rubble is unknown to us, but the seed has to be planted. Many seeds mean greater likelihood that one will sprout. Maybe it seems impractical or cold hearted to some to mention hell as a likely destination of those who were lost. If a family is killed by a house fire because they didn’t have a smoke detector, is it cold and impractical to find out if other houses in areas unreached by technology have smoke detectors? What if someone were to hand them out door to door? Would that be inconsiderate of those that perished or their loved ones? I pray the relief workers are filled with the Spirit to pray with the Haitians in this terrible time of grief and pain. Let them be emboldened by knowledge of and faith in the Great Comforter who heals all wounds. Let the survivors walk away from this as believers who share their testimony with others. “Dear Jesus, let there be an explosion of passion for Your name and Your Cross within the hearts of complacent believers all over this nation.” Amen.
I think its awesome that after a tragedy, The Christians in Haiti can worship God in the streets and Liberal American Media is airing it!
I agree with Tim. I saw that aired too and it blessed me so much. Humbling to see the people young and old lifting Jesus high. God Bless Hati
It is attributed to the late Dwight L. Moody and then re-iterated by the late Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, the pray: “Let my heart be broken for the things that break the heart of God.” That is where my heart is today for the people of Haiti – especially for those who do not know our Lord.
WOW. I agree with everything said. I was amazed to see the Christians in Haiti worshiping the one true God…Hallelujah!
Brad B.
My husband, parents and myself just returned from Haiti Jan. 31, 2009. We are so thankful we got to go share God’s word and His love with the Haitians. This is a nation that truly needs to turn to God. I’m so thankful to say that our friends, mighty men and women of God were spared in the quake!!! TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!!
Amen!!!
I recently read another pastor’s blog who quoted Rich Stearns’ translation of Matthew 25:
“For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.”
Compassion is one of Christ’s traits that we Christians say we want to strive to emulate, but too often we fall WAY short. Intercessory prayer also seems to be suffering from Christians’ apathy.
Thank you for your post. We need to be in earnest prayer for the souls of those who are still alive in body but dead in spirit in Haiti, and around the world.
Love your fervor, but poor use of Rev. 3:20. Text without context is pretext. That was to the last church, of Laodocia. If God is waiting on us . . . then we are more than human, and He is less than God. Not willing to make that presumption. And . . . I have many friends in Haiti who are missionaries. The Gospel WAS and IS being preached, and affective on the hearts. We cannot look at the past as a predetermination of the present. God tells us to not look to the past, but to press on to the high calling . . . I have friends who do that, and I financially support them . . . you? I encourage you to preach the Truth in Spirit with a humble heart that points to Him! Blessings!
Pastor Joel,
You were at my church this past week! I love my pastor (Pastor Rodney), I love the home God has planted me in! But I tell you the truth, since your visit, I see Jesus in a whole new light. The fellowship of his suffering has touched my heart and changed me! Your testimony helped me to OVERCOME, just like Jesus promised. I am from Haiti and after hearing your testimony, the suffering of my people has touched my heart in a brand new way…compassion has moved into my heart and he never has to pay rent or move!CONGRATULATIONS ON THE WEDDING. My daughter and I would love to come…may I have the address?