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From the Director of Missions

"Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day; so that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name..." Luke 24: 46 & 47

Praise His blessed, holy name, revival time has been in full swing in our association for about three weeks now and God’s presence has been obvious in varied ways in the meetings I’ve been blessed to be able to attend. From the quiet moving of God among the well-filled pews at Calhoun First, Fairmount First, Sonoraville and Oostanaula, to the overwhelming sense of conviction and the overflowing confession at Sugar Valley; God has brought tears to my eyes and rejoicing to my soul. From the practical application of prayer as the platform for conflict resolution and the obvious presence of God changing hearts and minds in the very midst of the service at Riverview, to the joyous praise and powerfully-anointed as well as challenging preaching at New Zion and Oak Grove, my God has become bigger and my load lighter. From the enthusiastic worship, the realistically sobering messages, and the practical putting faith into action of Discipleship NOW God has been more real and near to me than I recall in quite some time. I can honestly proclaim with the Psalmist: "I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD." (Psalm 122:1)

Though I was unable to get to Heritage for their revival I’m hearing glowing reports of 17 salvations—one of whom was Brent’s own dad! And I’m hearing of exciting times at Pleasant Valley as they have twisted schedules around and young and old alike are doing a special discipleship study together as a church. Lives are being challenged and changed as a result of it! I am looking forward to what God’s going to do at Blackwood and Pleasant Hill next week, then Hill City and Resaca in May.

With praise still on my lips, let me encourage you if your church is having (or has had) revival and you’ve not read about it here then we most probably do not know about it. Give us a call and fill us in on the details that we may pray, participate and rejoice with you!

Now quickly on to a couple of reminders related to the scripture listed above and Easter rapidly approaching. First be sure to include Annie & our North American missions in your giving plans. Second be sure to make Easter a time for personal repentance and remission of sin and proclamation of that two-fold process in Jesus’ name.

According to the verses above, why was it beneficial for Christ to suffer the cross & rise up from the grave? What two things should be preached in his name as a result of the cross and the empty tomb? It’s repentance & remission of sins! Those two injunctions just leapt off the page at me the other day. Luke didn’t say to preach love & salvation in light of the cross. Neither did he insist upon declaring hope & eternal life. Instead he said repentance & remission should be.

The verb form of repentance is used 28 times in the New Testament. The word is "metanoeo." It literally means "after or amid thinking". That, reminds me of God’s invitation in Isaiah, "Come now & let us reason together . . .though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. .." (Isaiah 1: 18) Repentance involves our "coming to our senses." As such, we must rethink our sinful nature and be willing to change! "As a man thinketh so he is." (Prov. 23:7)

Notice too that repentance precedes remission. Willingness to change comes before forgiveness. Though the same Greek word is translated both "remission" and "forgiveness", I like the word remission here for it reminds me of the on-going process repentance is. Though sins are always completely forgiven, they are not always completely forsaken. Remission reminds me how sin can often rear its ugly head & need to be rethought & re-abandoned. As you think of Christ’s passion this Easter think repentance and remission SHOULD be proclaimed. Then claim it and PROCLAIM IT!!!!

LOVE,
Brother Doug