on being heralds…
NOTE: This week, our team hosted 600+ pastors of our annual Foursquare Leaders Conference. This is a gathering of leaders in our district (California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona) to celebrate and encourage our missional engagement and apostolic responsibility to herald God’s Kingdom. All that to say, I do not have the time to continue my (unintended) series on politics and social concern. So, I thought I would share the open letter I sent to our pastors attending this gathering.
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2 Corinthians 5.17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Therefore if anyone… an old person or young person…a rich person or poor person… an extraordinary person or an average person…an athletic person or a clumsy person…a clever person or a dim-witted person… a blue-collar person or a white-collar person… a leader-person or a follower-person… a passive person or an aggressive person…a married person or a single person…
Is in Christ… forgiven…liberated…reconciled…restored… called…adopted…gifted…loved…filled…
The old… the primitive…the antiquated…the expired…the worn out…the used up…the obsolete…the decayed…the out-of-date… the run-dry…
Things… pride… lying… fear… lust… envy… greed…brokenness… unforgiveness… estrangement… prejudice… loneliness…
Passed away… surpassed… passed-over… exceeded… gone by… nullified…
Behold… Look! Take notice! Listen up! Pay attention! Check this out! You’ve got to see this! You’re not going to believe this BUT
New… the unexpected… the unfamiliar… the wonderful… the unforeseen surprise…joy… the implausible, but true
Things… a new Savior… a new covenant… a new Kingdom… a new Spirit… a new promise… a new grace… a new life… a new name… a new nature… a new courage… a new song… a new strength… a new hope… a new love… a new joy… a new future…
Have come… has arrived… has landed… has succeeded… has triumphed… is here to stay…
Western District, we are heralds of the Good News… We are harbingers of the Kingdom of God — co-workers with Christ in His redemptive purposes! Dear ones! Our mission is clear: we must multiply God’s Kingdom presence as we preach in word and deed a Foursquare Gospel. We will not give up, step back, or burn out. We will remain focused, resolute, curious, collaborative, adaptive, and perceptive. We will not play the victim, nor will we lead with a besieged mentality. We will extend a truth more beautiful, a love more compelling, a promise more certain, and a life more abundant. We will bring a light that will shine in the darkness, a healing that will address all brokenness, a comfort that will embrace all grief and a joy that will not be repressed. We will not be divided in our loyalties, distracted in our priorities, or deluded in our allegiances. We will lift up, not put down; we will prosper, not oppress; we will choose sacrifice over entitlement.
We belong to Jesus Christ! Over the next few days, we will worship our Lord, celebrate His Kingdom, and reflect through conversations on how we might multiply His Kingdom presence. When we leave here, I pray that the Holy Spirit might disrupt us with a deep hunger that cannot be satiated until all have heard and countless more have surrendered.
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What I prayed for our district’s gathering, I pray for you wherever this letter shall find you…
Mark
