Expanding the Kingdom
by Bruce DeLay

On a recent trip to Guatemala, I was privileged to witness the EXPANDING KINGDOM OF GOD firsthand. When the Lord said, "Let there be..." in Genesis chapter one, the universe exploded with the creative power of God. Modern day scientists confirm that the universe is still expanding today. All this from one word spoken by God over 4,000 years ago! When Christ said, "...upon this rock I will build my Church..." in Matthew 16, He also set the power of creation in motion. Today His kingdom continues to expand at a high rate of speed. While America seems to be a harder field to plow, many other nations are ripe for the gospel of the kingdom. It is more difficult to convince a prosperous people that they have need of Christ. But as a precious man of God in Guatemala City recently said, "The people here have no money, they have no running water, they have no jobs...But they have one thing; They have an eternal soul. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world , yet lose his own soul?"

I went to Guatemala with a wonderful group of believers to present the gospel primarily in prisons, military bases, and schools. It is time to take the work of God outside the walls of the church buildings and into the places where people are hungry for Christ! Each team member learned their testimony in Spanish. Everywhere we shared the message of Christ, people responded. Military officers received the Lord right in front of their own troops. Hardened inmates responded to the gospel invitation in spite of what the other prisoners might say or do to them. Young people in a parochial school and a military academy publicly said, "yes" to Christ without fear of peer pressure from their friends. Many hundreds received Christ for the first time. This is going on all over the world. The Kingdom is expanding.

For the last twelve years I have been heavily involved in discipleship, leadership, and dealing with the foundation of local churches. It had been years since I had given myself to the work of evangelism. I had grown too spiritually sophisticated to use certain methods of evangelism. But the Lord used this trip to Guatemala to bring a balance of evangelism and discipleship back to my life. I repented and I am now convinced that people everywhere (even in the U.S.A.) are hungry for the living God. Just as I am finding Christians who desire to go deeper with Christ in discipleship, my eyes are now open to the fact that unbelievers want someone to tell them the truth and demand a response. Satan has convinced too many Christians that bringing people to Jesus is not a priority. The Church is so focused on itself that we have forgotten the lost and dying world that needs Christ. This must change.

Modern day sports are a picture of the modern church. Today we have sports cards, magazines and TV coverage galore. There are whole TV networks devoted to keeping us up to date on scores, stats and trades. We seem to talk more about football, baseball and basketball than we actually play the games. All the facts, figures and predictions are starting to ruin the joy of the game. But hey - we are analyzing the Church to death as well! We must stop all the introspection and armchair quarterbacking and throw ourselves back into the real game. Our jerseys are too clean! The only blood or dirt on our uniforms is from fighting with our own team. It is time to do damage to the kingdom of darkness by emptying it’s dungeons of the people God loves. Christ is the answer the world is searching for. We must believe that ourselves once again.

 

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..."   Romans 1:16 (New International Version)