Last week, I was able to attend a pastor’s regional conference. At the conference I had the opportunity to share a little about AOI’s ministries, and to hear from pastors about some of the victories and defeats they experienced this last year. I heard lots of good “stuff”, but one talk really got me to thinking.
In John 4, we read the account of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. As a result of this woman’s encounter with Jesus, she believed, and immediately went to town to tell others of the good news of Jesus Christ.
A missionary pastor from Albania (a very atheistic country) tells how many people in that country are coming to know Jesus. Twenty five years ago there were probably only 5 or 6 Christians there. Today it is estimated there are over 10,000 believers. Many of the new Christians are immediately going out among their friends and sharing the joy and hope of their salvation. They don’t wait to be baptized, or to be trained, or to study and learn the Bible … they are so passionate about the joy of their salvation that they want to share their experience immediately. The pastor has coined a word for these people – “Passionaries”.
Hearing these accounts of Passionaries, I wondered … have many of us lost our passion for our salvation through Jesus Christ? Do we need to ask the Lord to once again stir our hearts for a desire to share the message with others, to once again be bold Passionaries?
Lanny Johnson
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