Bible Quiz The answers are at the end of the blog. Have fun!!
According to the Bible, are these statements true or false?
1. God told the Isrealites to bury their excrement outside their camp so that when He walked among them He would not see their filth. 2. God instructed Christians to practice hospitality because it might be an angel at their door.
Dear Prayer Warriors,
God greatly blessed your prayers concerning the ministry in Nigeria! Continuing with a series of updates regarding the work accomplished in that country, I thought that I would use this next blog to share a topic close to my heart - that of “appointments with destiny.”
We all, of course, love the classic passage on salvation (probably second only in popularity to John 3:16) of Ephesians 2:8-9 which states “for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This is a wonderful passage, but many believers do not go on to appreciate Ephesians 2:10 which exhorts us “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
One of the great aspects of salvation by grace is that it opens the door to a ministry which God prepares for us each day. We have but to pray each morning that God will make us alert and give us opportunities to share our faith. I remember as a young university student being introduced to this reality and then being exhorted, “John, begin each day as if God had personally told you that today you will have appointments with destiny. For you have the words to change the eternal destiny of a man’s soul.” Wow, now that is exciting!! One of the shallowest statements I hear my fellow ministers make is that their vocation insulates them from opportunities to witness. I have found just the opposite to be true. Whenever I am asked, “What do you do?” I always answer that “it is a concept best illustrated. May I show you?” Then I get out my pen and a piece of paper and share the gospel with them.
My conviction that God will answer appointments with destiny is one of the reasons I keep bottled water, cokes, tracts (Spanish and English), New Testaments (Spanish and English) and Christian books (Spanish and English) in a basket by my front door. I have prayed for appointments with destiny, and I assume anyone who knocks on my door has been sent by God for His appointment.
Let me share with you just a few of the “appointments with destiny” which I was blessed with this past month in Nigeria:
- I arrived at the conference early and checked into my room. One of the attendants helped carry the seven 70lbs boxes of Bibles and reference works to my room. I told him to come back when he got off work for I had something for him. I gave him a bottle of water, a nice tip, a New Testament and the gospel.
- I then went down for my meal. There was a well-dressed Nigerian gentleman eating alone so I asked to eat with him. He was attending a secular leadership conference on the same grounds. I shared the gospel with him and then invited him to attend the meetings. His conference ended two days before ours so he stayed over and faithfully attended the meetings.
- During the conference, I had to go into town to find an automatic teller machine. The cab driver who took me into town turned out to be a minister's son. After going to the bank machine, I had a little time so I asked him if he had eaten lunch. He answered “No” so we stopped, and I bought him lunch and shared the gospel. He was a Christian but had questions about “What happens to babies and children who die young?” so we did a Bible study. He had other questions so I arranged for him to take me to the airport after the conference which he did. He came with a list of questions, and we had a great time. In addition, he gave me his email address and asked that I send him some studies which I have already done.
- There was a man painting one of the hallways which I passed through several times a day. Now there are 365 days in a year. The conference center had about seven three story buildings, each with multiple hallways. Of all the days of the year and out of all these hallways, he was painting the hall through which I had to pass. Now, if that is not an appointment with destiny, I do not know what is! I gave him a bottle of water, the gospel and a New Testament; he was very thankful for them all.
- Whenever I stay at a conference center, I pre-suppose that the person who will clean the room when I leave is an appointment with destiny. I left a bottle of water, a nice tip and a New Testament with the gospel included.
- I had a mandatory layover in England. My cab driver was a Somalian. I had a good discussion with him, but he was not open to the gospel as he said Islam and Christianity were the same. So I asked him my fool-proof questions. I asked him (1) Why did he have to leave an Islamic Republic and come to a Christian nation to safely practice Islam, (2) If Islam took over England, could he safely practice Islam and (3) Since he was safer physically with Christians than with Muslims, shouldn’t he consider the claims of Christ. He said he would faithfully read the New Testament and consider this truth.
- On my flight I sat next to a Muslim man. He was broken over the recent loss of his baby to a sudden and unexplained death. I comforted him from the Word, showing him passages that assure him that his baby is in heaven and the gracious and merciful reasons God will often take a baby home to be with Him. He was greatly comforted. He did not want to see the bridge illustration on the plane but asked me to email it to him as well as “the comforting words of Jesus,” and he gave me his email address.
These are just a few of the many opportunities I had to minister outside the messages of the conference. I have found the keys to appointments with destiny very simple:
First – Pray each morning that God would give you evangelistic and ministry appointments that very day.
Second – Be alert. Everywhere you go, be looking for the appointment which God has prepared for you.
Third – Be prepared. Have a pen, a piece of paper, a tract and/or a New Testament. In short, have the tools ready for your appointment.
Lastly – Be aggressive. It is your appointment. Don’t let the world, the flesh or the devil cheat you out of it. We are “fishers of men.” Fishing is a predatory sport. We by nature then are spiritual predators. You do not sit at your desk, hear “thump, thump, thump” on your door and opening your door find fish flopping against the door wanting you to cook them. No, fishing is a predatory sport; it takes planning, preparation and initiative. The fish are out there. We just have to go get them. It is the same with appointments with destiny. God will supply the fish and the appointment, but we must take the initiative.
Let me share with you a counter illustration. As I was waiting for my flight sipping on a cup of coffee, a group of seven Mormon boys coming back from their two year mission assignment were standing nearby talking. Each was sharing opportunities they had in the duty-free zone of witnessing the demonic teaching of Mormonism. It is amazing to me that Christians deny the power of appointments with destiny, of aggressively sharing their faith all while the three most evil and demonic cults in existence grow through aggressive recruiting – Islam, Mormonism and Jehovah Witnesses. Are these satanically led boys more sincere and aggressive in sharing the lies of satan than grown Christian men and women are regarding the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? By God’s grace, we will all answer a resounding “NO!” Instead, we must all begin each day by looking for our appointments with destiny, reminding ourselves that we are not on a mere two-year mission journey, but as long as the Lord of the harvest gives us breath, we will be found laboring in the harvest of the souls of men and women.
Join with me today and every day in your appointments with destiny.
By His mercy, II Corinthians 4:1 Rev. John S. Mahon / Director Grace Community International (You can update yourself in terms of our most current ministry praises and events on our GCI Facebook page. Simply “like” us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/gciweb.)
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