When Jesus told the disciples to "go in to all the world" did they have the option to go or to send?
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
I do not understand they had a choice. Jesus was not speaking to anyone other than those eleven and he was telling them to go. They had no option if they were to obey. If we accept that he was speaking to us we also would have no option but to go.
Recently I heard an interview of a father of two children who had survived the school shooting in Connecticut one of the children, a boy I believe 10 or so, cries lot and refuses to go to school. The father and boy have worked up to going to the school the boy should be attending and walking the halls, holding hands. The boy keeps the keys to the car in his pocket so his father cannot leave without him. When the father attempts to get the boy to "trust" him the boy says, "Last Friday if you had told me I would be safe you would have been wrong." That statement along with the fact the boy keeps the car keys in his pocket while he and his father are walking the halls of the school indicates he does not believe his father and worse does not trust his father. My guess is their relationship is changed forever.
Church growth may be hampered by the fact most members 1) do not believe what they are told by preachers/teachers; 2) to not believe one has to be a member of the Church of Christ to be saved; and 3) do not believe assembling with others is necessary nor is reading/studying the bible necessary. As I mentioned before when in one of your classes you said we want to go to Heaven because that is where our favorite people are and I said no, your favorite people are there each individual has to answer that question for themselves. It appears most people claiming to be Christian do not believe the "company position" on a number of subjects.
In your Newsline article when you say church growth depends on prayer what specifically do you expect God to do?
John Jenkins
865-803-8179 cell
Gatlinburg, TN
Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
http://alumcave.blogspot.com/
Barney Fife: "Now here at the Rock we have two rules. Memorize them until you can say them in your sleep. Rule number one: obey all rules. Rule number two: no writing on the walls."
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