Laughter is a good thing in life. It refl ects joy in the heart. Joy is a good thing. It must be, because there are over 800 passages in the Bible that deal with “joy.” God must like the word. Even more than liking the word in the Bible, God loves it when there is joy in life.

Jesus entered into His public ministry talking about joy. As He began His public ministry, some of His first words were regarding joy. He stood before the people in His hometown and read the words of Isaiah: 

 “The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). 

 Is it only coincidence that the text for His message is tied into the Old Testament celebration of the Year of Jubilee? As He entered ministry with a festal shout, so He prepared to end His days talking about joy: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15: 11). Amazing, when you think about it—on a night when Jesus is faced with deep anguish, He talks about joy. 

Martin Luther once said, “God is not a God of sadness, but the devil is. Christ is a God of joy. It is pleasing to the dear God whenever you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart.”
 

At a time when Jesus shared some difficult teaching (some of it regarding obedience to His command to love as He has loved), He followed it with these words, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” He does not give us His commands because we are too happy and He wants to make us more serious. He gives us the command to love one another because He believes that we are not joyous enough. There is no one in the entire universe who is happier or more joyous than God! He wants that joy to be in you and me.
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

There are many times in our lives that the expectations and needs of other people will tug at our hearts. What is the guiding principle that determines what we say yes to and what we turn away? The answer rests in living our lives before an audience of One. 

 The demands of a hurting and hungry world were always before Jesus. How did He know when to say yes and when to say no? Henri Nouwen offers this thought: 

“In the lonely place Jesus finds the courage to follow God’s will and not his own; to speak God’s words and not his own; to do God’s work and not his own. He reminds us constantly, ‘I can do nothing by myself . . . my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me’ (John 5:30). And again, ‘The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself; it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work’ (John 14:10)” (1974, p.14)
 

I am under His command to make disciples as I go along my way. I do this in obedience to Him and with love for those to whom I give witness. Even more important, though, is that my witness flows out of my first love for Him. This, in the end, will be the most winsome part of my witness. People will sense and see this, just as they will hear the witness I offer. 
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

There are many men and women of faith who I admire and respect. Many of those have blessed my life directly. Some I have never met and yet their lives are such a witness and inspiration to me. One whom I never met but will someday meet in heaven is Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. I am moved by his words: 

 “My life’s message is to be a slave of Jesus. And all that it involves. Love your master, trust your master, and obey your master. Obviously, I’m a son of God, heir of God, joint-heir with Christ, and if He was described as a slave—Paul, and Peter and the other apostles were slaves—this to me is the highest privilege any one could know. I evaluate everything I do in light of what He wants me to do. I try to relate every move, every day, in light of how I can help fulfill His great commission and fulfill His commandments.`` 

Responding to the Great Commission first out of obedience and love for Jesus rather than the needs of the lost will have an effect on my daily walk. When my response to the Great Commission is rooted first in obedience to His authority, then my life’s mission will reflect His own. The primary reason that Jesus came to this earth was not His love for you and me. It was not even so that He could die on the cross or rise from the grave. The primary reason that Jesus came to this earth was out of obedience to His Father. The result of that obedience was that He would die on the cross and be raised on the third day. Within that obedience there was, of course, His love for you and me. Clearly, though, His first love and passion was to follow His Father’s will. I tend to so often focus on the loving Jesus that I diminish His primary motivation and purpose—obedience to His Father: 

“‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘ is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’” (John 4:34). 

“. . . but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31). 

“Then He said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first to establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9).
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

For years I have said that my passion is for the lost—for those who are dying without Christ. Whether in my personal life or as a leader within the church, I have sought ways to keep this as my primary passion. Then recently, I took a closer look at Matthew 28: 18-19: 

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. . . .”

Many are familiar with this Great Commission. But do we know what should compel us to carry it out? I have always assumed it was because of our love for the lost, our concern that without Christ people will spend an eternity in Hell without Him, but this is not the basis He gives for the Great Commission. He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go. . . .” 

Jesus certainly wants our hearts to be filled with love for the lost. This, however, is not the primary motivator He gives for us to reach out with the saving message of the Gospel. His Lordship is what should compel us. Nothing less. All authority belongs to Him, and He commands us to do this. Jesus has come through the crucifi xion and the three days in the grave as the Victor! 
 

His blood has not only freed me from my sin, the fear and punishment of death and the power of the devil—His blood has made me His own. “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him. . . .” He is my Lord. He has the right to ask of me whatever He wishes. I am His slave. The disciples understood this on that day of His Ascension. Scripture records for us this moment immediately before He gave them the Great Commission: “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” (Matthew 28:16-17).
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

The mistake is often made in measuring the effectiveness of a church by Sunday morning’s attendance or the size and creativity of its programs or ministries. Others will measure the effectiveness by the size of its building. The Word, however, measures maximum impact and effectiveness by a different standard. What Jesus holds up in His teachings is our ability to be salt and light. 

 “You are the salt of the earth . . . you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:13-14). 

 What do salt and light have in common? They both must penetrate something or lose themselves in something in order to be effective. They both must go out from their source in order to be effective. The salt must go into the food and the light must go into the darkness. So it is with missional churches. They are measured by the sum total of individual believers who penetrate the community by means of their “goings” to and from. 

This is the assumption behind the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19—”Go [or as you go along your way] . . . make disciples.” Imagine the impact potential for any congregation. The worship concludes and the members “go along their way” back to school or work or into their neighborhoods. This is the Church “on the go” in the mission sense. 

Have you ever seen a sign that greets members who are leaving the church or the property that says, “You are now entering the mission field!”? This is the attitude of a missional church. The making of disciples occurs as people are “going along the way.” 

There is something significant about this charge that Jesus gives His disciples in light of what He said earlier in Matthew 10:5-6. He sends the Twelve out with the following instructions: 

 “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: The Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matthew 10:5-7). 

You see, there it is again. “As you go. . . .” It is this strategy that says be natural; be intentional. As you go, along the way, preach the message. What makes this different, however, is the limitation, “Do not go among the Gentiles. . . .” Jesus had a very specific objective. Go to Israel first. Later it will be expanded. Jesus was a master at laying the groundwork. He understood the importance of keeping it focused and narrow. Then when the objective is established, widen the scope. He did the same thing with the training of His disciples. He spent three years with them in an intensive leadership and discipling track. When He ascended, the group was small but the base was solid and deep. The Church exploded with growth when the Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost. 

In Matthew 28, on his Ascension Day, He expanded the commission: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations.” No restrictions. No limitations. Go into all the world. What a radical thought for those who heard it. Go into all the world and make disciples of them. The strategy is simple. Be intentional and be natural. As you are going along the way. The vision is huge: “Make disciples of all nations.”
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

How many commands do you read in the following Bible verse? 

“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” (Matthew 28:19). 

One? Two? Three? Four? 

The common belief is that Jesus gave us four commands: Go. Make. Baptize. Teach. In reality, there is only one command. In the original language, only one is written in what is called the imperative: “make disciples.” 

The word “Go” certainly sounds like a command doesn’t it? It is, however, a participle in form. Now, please understand that when it comes to grammar, participles sound more like vegetables to me. I suspect that I was thinking of other things during the days of ninth-grade English and Grammar. Participles and prepositions didn’t quite match up to the important things, like baseball. However, it is important for the sake of understanding our mission that we understand participles in this case. Jesus is saying, in effect, “As you go. . .” or “Going along the way. . .” or “Having gone. . . .” In other words, He is assuming that the disciples will not sit still, waiting for the world to come to them. He assumes that they will be on the move. In essence, He is saying to them, “Wherever you are, make disciples!” 

To understand the word “Go” as a participle is to understand the strategy of Christ for our mission. Christ does not establish His Church on a “build it and they will come” mindset, but rather, “As you are going along the way, make disciples.” Let it become a natural part of your everyday life. 
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

I do not watch many movies twice. One that I have seen a few times, however, is “Father of the Bride,” starring Steve Martin. It is actually a remake of the old movie that featured Spencer Tracy. The movie has many hilarious moments—some of them far fetched, but others closer to the truth than one might want to admit. In one scene, they are going over the guest list. Actually, I found through my own experience in my daughter’s wedding planning that this process is not so much about who will be invited as who will be cut. I suspect many families have approached this task with greater turmoil than a baseball manager faces in making the final cuts to get his team to a 25-man roster. 

Just the opposite is true with God. He holds nothing back when it comes to inviting people to His Son’s wedding feast. In fact, when one looks at the record of Scripture, He appears almost reckless in his love and openness to those He invites. Look at the parables and you will find a shepherd who is willing to leave the entire flock for the one lost sheep. In another parable, the father is coming—no running—down the road toward the humiliated son returning home. He does not seem to care that his actions will make himself the object of shame. His son is returning home! (Luke 15)
 

In the parable of the wedding banquet, rejected by many who are too busy, too indifferent or too self-centered to come to his son’s banquet, the King invites—even compels—the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame to come to his banquet. He holds nothing back. He is not looking who to cut, but rather who can be added to the list. What an amazing picture these parables offer us! 

I agree with Philip Yancey who wrote, “. . . Jesus did not give the parables to teach us how to live. He gave them, I believe, to correct our notions about who God is and who God loves” (p. 53). The danger I find is that we become so familiar with these parables that we lose the sense of just how raw and almost reckless is the love of God. God is intent on one thing—He wants His house full. 

 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full” (Luke 14:23).
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish