This is part three of a series on how your church can develop a missions program.
We Need to Examine Our Conditions in the Local Church (Genesis 24:5)
To get where he was going, Eleazar had to know where he was. It is obvious that Eleazar studied the situation and knew the necessary steps for success. He knew that God was calling him to a land where he had never been, to meet a woman that he had never met. Then, he knew he had to convince her to leave mother and father, to return with him to Isaac.
We must take an honest inventory of our lives and ministries. If you called me for directions to our Billion Soul World Headquarters, I would ask, “Where are you now?” If you said, “I am at the corner of ‘walk and don’t walk’,” I would say, “That is not good enough, get specific.” We must diagnose our problems. We need to know what stands between us and accomplishing our role in the Great Commission. What are the roadblocks? Just because we have obstacles does not mean that God is not with us.
The door of opportunity swings on the hinges of opposition. We need to stop complaining about our problems and start cracking the code to help get a bride ready for Christ. Here is a straight-forward, five-step planning grid to help you develop an aggressive missions program in seven years.
Gather the facts – Research! Do your homework. Analyze where you and your church are. Ask questions of key leaders, even if you fear the answers!
Organize a plan – Reflect! Develop one-, three-, five- and seven-year schedules, building sequential steps from beginning to end. Add a 30 percent buffer. It always takes longer than we expect!
Act on the plan – Respond! Once you have your plan, take action! Do no wait until every question is answered and funding is completed. Get started!
Look back – Review! Life is lived forward and learned backward. As you move forward, review your results each quarter, fine-tuning the methods that work and eliminating those that don’t.
Set new goals – Recommit! Like climbing a mountain, we have to keep recommitting ourselves to the summit. Unexpected turns and unforeseen challenges always come, but we determine to make it to the top.
Eleazar looked at the problems, and then developed a plan. He was going to find the right girl, get an invitation to her home, share God’s promises with her, pop the marriage question, then ask her parents’ permission to take her to Isaac.
Think: if you get to where you are going, where will you be? If you accomplish your goals, what will you have? Are the things you are living for worth Jesus dying for?
James O. Davis
Founder of the Billion Soul Foundation
© 2009 Church of God World Missions