2014:The Year Of INSTAR


The Spanish word Instar means to Urge or to Be Urgent.  I believe that this word sums up what we feel to be a theme for World Missions and Evangelism for the New Year of 2014. 
The year that has just ended, 2013, had a theme of Open Doors….and it really proved to be such a year.  But in this New Year, I am impressed to think of the Urgency of the work of God among the Nations. 
 
Missions work is Urgent because eternal souls are at stake.  Missions is not an optional task for God’s people….it is part and parcel of what it means to be God’s people.  When Jesus founded the Church, he was not starting an Institution, but rather He was starting a Movement.  The Early Church was a Disciple Making Movement that exploded through Israel and the Roman Empire like an unexpected Tsunami! The early disciples were obedient followers of Jesus who were discipling others constantly.  Eventually people in the empire called them the people “who turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). This happened because the early believers lived in a state of Urgency to Obey Christ’s Great Commission.
 
Missions work is Urgent because we live in the midst of a Spiritual Warfare where the opposition is working with Urgency.  As James tells us, the demons believe and tremble (James 2:19).  In the last days, scripture tells us that satan will operate with great wrath, because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12).  We must have an Urgent attitude in our Missions work, because there is an enemy who is working to deceive, blind, and destroy lives before the light of the Gospel can reach them.
 
Missions work is Urgent because we are nearing the Endgame period of Missions.  Jesus told us that every people group would hear the gospel before the end (Matthew 24:14).  The last 2 centuries have seen amazing progress in World Missions.  Millions have heard, and Closure (the fulfillment of the Great Commission) is closer than ever before.  It is Urgent that we build on the foundations that the great missionaries have laid and actually finish.  If we stop now, we will lose the ground that has been gained.  The closer to Closure that we get, we must actually increase our work, not decrease it!  We must pray more, obey more, disciple more, and equip more than ever before.
 
With these things in mind, WME is preparing to move forward aggressively in facilitating disciple making movements.  In the months ahead we will be sharing how our Vision is increasing to see nations and peoples become obedient disciples.  Join us in prayer as we embark on this New Year, Urgently obeying the Jesus Call to Disciple the Nations.
2014:  The Year of INSTAR

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