| I peered out my window. I could see it waiting for me; watching me. I just couldn’t go out. For there, outside, was the world at my doorstep.How could I venture out? It was so dark. The faces that I could make out in the darkness were angry and hostile. I just couldn’t go out there. My master saw my struggle and He said to me, “You won’t go out because you can’t see through my eyes.” He took my eyes and gave me His. Then He said, “Look now”. I looked out the window. For the first time I no longer saw anger, but rather the pain and the suffering on the faces outside my door. My master said, “You won’t help them because you don’t have my hands.” He took my hands and gave me His. Then He said, “Go.” For the first time, I opened my door and greeted the world at my doorstep.I saw the pain and suffering. I reached out with newfound desire to help this darkened and needy world, but I was soon discouraged. I just couldn’t go on. I returned to my door and went inside. It was light and felt safe and warm. My master said, “There is one more thing I must give you…my heart. Now go and meet the world at your doorstep. See them through my eyes, touch them with my hands, but most of all…love them with my heart.” I opened the door and boldly went out to the world at my doorstep. tsf |
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| And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
Mark 16:15 |
| One of the most heart-rending stories found in the Bible in Judges 19. It contains a message for every 21st century believer. The story tells of a young woman who was savagely and mercilessly abused all night long by a group of men. After this tragic experience, she managed to make her way back home, but being in a very feeble state, she collapsed outside. When her husband discovered her lifeless body, she was lying in the doorway of the house with her hands on the threshold. It's a dreadful story, I know. But wrapped up in it is a great truth, as well as a challenge and a word of encouragement for you and me. Note that the young woman in Judges was beaten to the point of fatal collapse at what could have been the doorway to safety. It's not hard to picture the American church in somewhat the same situation. When it comes to reaching the unchurched, we've taken a great beating and lost some ground in this generation. But the results of a recent survey, coupled with what seems to be a growing hunger in Christians, seem to indicate a shift is on the horizon. We might well be on the threshold of a great harvest. What is the individual believer's responsibility for helping to gather in this harvest, and how do we fulfill it? Romans 8:19 exhorts us to maintain an aggressive perspective regarding our role in the earth today. This verse reminds us that “the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed”. |
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| I Watched
Please Remember The Lighthouse She Falls There is My Father If Only I Had My Baby’s Eyes Two Men The Gap This Day He Walked Between the Rows Revolutionary Perspective Welcome Home You Are Faithful I Remember Walls Enter In The Little Lamb The Sail Where the Blood Fell The World at My Doorstep Another Day at the Office The Valley Another Second Chance I Want to Fly The poems on this website were written by my husband. I pray that the Lord will speak to you through them. **Feel free to share these poems with others. We only ask that you leave the TSF at the end of each and that you place a link to our website (http://www.geocities.com/shout_2_the_lord) with it. Thanks. |
| Just outside your door are countless unbelievers who need to hear the gospel.
What's preventing you from reaching them? |
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| There are many reasons believers don't venture to share their faith, but one of the greatest hindrances, I believe, is fear. You determine you're going to talk to someone about spiritual matters, and suddenly a tidal wave of rejection rushes through your mind.
This fear is straight from the pit of hell-a clear-cut attack from the enemy that leaves you beaten up and nearly lifeless, lying at the threshold of reaching others with the gospel. The antidote is faith in God and reliance on the Holy Spirit to help you in your weakness. Remember these verses: “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4, KJV); “You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you” (Phil. 4;13, NKJV). Thresholds were meant to be crossed, not places of death and burial. Here are three steps you can take to help you move beyond the threshold and cross over to the harvest waiting right outside your door: 1. See past the threshold. Jesus told His followers, “'Lift up your eyes and look at the fields'” (John 4:35). The idea is to begin to notice the people around you who need Jesus. 2. Think beyond the threshold. What is it you believe about being personally involved in the Great Commission? Do you allow your mind-set to motivate you, or to stop you at the threshold? 3. Move beyond the threshold. Reach it and then cross over to the harvest. You can't let anything stop you at this point, not even lack of experience. Learning how to witness is the easiest obstacle to overcome: Just start talking about what has happened in your own life and the Person to whom you give all the credit. Let your Christianity be defined by the action you take to reach others, for the words of Jesus are as true today as in His time: “'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'” (Matt. 9:37-38). Do you want to be one of the laborers? Sure you do. Don't die on the threshold; cross over now and give witness to the One who has made a difference in your life. Your testimony will make a difference in someone else's. |
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| THE WORLD AT MY DOORSTEP |
| ORIGINAL POETRY |
| Sharing Your Faith |
| On the Threshold |