Mentoring Men for the Master

CARPE DIEM!!

10/11/14 Dr. Bennett’s Message on The Power of Praying in One Accord Part 2 from Thad Faulk on Vimeo.

CARPE DIEM!!

1 Cor. 16:9

M3 began in 1986 with one man, then two, three, to one dozen, then 30,40,50,60, 70, etc. until we stand on the threshold of mentoring a whole nation, followed I believe, to the whole world as we SURRENDR TOTALLY TO JESUS AS DID HIS FIRST FOLLOWERS.

But there is an Adversary which would defeat us unless we grab our opportunity now.  The greatest Christian ever describes our situation in one single sentence:  “A GREAT AND EFFECTUAL DOOR IS OPENED UNTO ME, AND THERE ARE MANY ADVERSARIES.”  (1 Cor. 16:9).  What are ADVERSARIES which would defeat us at this point?

  1. Satan
  2. Self
  3. Sin

We cannot defeat this vicious trio in our own strength, but the Holy Spirit released in our surrendered lives can and M3 can be described as “THE ACTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH M3.”

How do we know that M3 can do this?  Because the first followers of Jesus overcame every enemy through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit preserved a record of this miraculous victory in the Book of Acts, which is “The Acts of the Holy Spirit through the Early Followers of Jesus.”  Why do you think the Holy Spirit preserved this story?  Simply to encourage, yes, to move and compel us to do the same.

So Let Us Take A Look at the Pathway the Early Followers Took:

  1. They possessed ONE Mind – one Mind to follow Jesus at all costs (Acts 1:14, 2:1).
  2. They obeyed Jesus to a “T.”:
    1. Every disciple, even the Virgin Mary, prayed for 10 days (Acts 1:12-15).
    2. Every one was “baptized” by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1).
    3. Every one was not just “baptized” but were filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 4:8; 4:31).
    4. Everyone loved each other and enjoyed fellowship (Koinonia) (Acts 2:42-47).
    5. Everyone gave Jesus ALL the glory (Acts 4:23ff).
    6. They faced persecution with prayer, not complaints (Acts 4:23-31).
    7. They did not pray to escape suffering, but that the Lord would intervene to enable them to keep witnessing (Acts 4:23ff).
    8. Every single one helped carry out the Great Commission which Jesus had given them (Acts 8:4), beginning in Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:24)
    9. They formed a local church at Antioch in Pisidia by “prayer and fasting” (Acts 13:1-5).  This small church sent out the first foreign missionaries, Paul and Barnabas.
    10. They gave God ALL the credit upon their return. “And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:27).
    11. In a few years Christianity had become such a force in the vast Roman Empire that the Emperor Constantine decreed that Christianity would be the official religion of the Empire (AD313). This occurred in 270 years (AD 30-313)

 

Just Think:  M3 is now faced with the miraculous Challenge of sending the Gospel to the nations, having begun already in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and now the world.

So God’s Word to us Now is “CARPE DIEM”  Seize the Opportunity.  Will you?