Transcript of a published conference session by Robbie Mitchell, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Summary
- A night-session message on the church's neglected mission: the world and the people in it belong to God, and a church distracted by lesser things must recover its reason for existing — reaching individual people before they step into eternity.
- He speaks as a career evangelist: ten years on the evangelistic field with his wife Lisa, most of them in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and the last two and a half years in Fayetteville alongside one of the heroes of the faith. After thanking the conference he commends to every minister a book on margin, the need to make room in a crowded life, and then turns to soldiers.
- His frame is the United States Navy SEALs. He reads their official philosophy at length — the Trident earned every day, the word that is a bond, the refusal ever to quit or leave a teammate — and tells of the four men dropped into the mountains of Afghanistan in June 2005, of whom only Marcus Luttrell came home, nineteen Americans dead in that week. Millions spent training such men cannot change the outcome of hatred; what carries them is commitment to the mission. The church, he says, has been given a mission of its own — operation personal evangelism — and the snipers who freed a captive captain in the Indian Ocean the previous April were simply men prepared for the unexpected. His question is whether the church is prepared for what it has been given in this last hour.
- His text is the verse that says the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell in it. He voices its closing clause in translation after translation — the world and they who live in it, the world and all its people — because that closing clause is his subject. Men at every level of society have joined the cause to care for the earth: going green, recycling, smart cars, global warming, everybody wants to talk about Mother Earth. But what about the world? The world is God's, and the greatest accomplishment available to the adversary in this hour would be to distract the church from her real purpose. Too many saints are content to live under the shadow and protection of the church bell when they should be positioned at the gates of hell with a message of salvation, living too close to the church door and not close enough to the door of hell, while the eternal destiny of man's soul rests in the church's hands.
- Paul is his measure of conviction. In the long reading that follows, the apostle counts preaching the gospel no ground for glory — necessity is laid upon him, and woe is unto him if he preach not the gospel; he made himself servant unto all that he might gain the more, became as a Jew to the Jews, as under the law to those under the law, as without law to those without law, weak to the weak — all things to all men, that he might by all means save some. There are no free passes in soul winning, not even for the preacher. Then the arithmetic of eternity: in the thirty-five minutes he will spend preaching, 3,745 people will enter eternity lost; more than 150,000 die every day; the earthquake that devastated Haiti the week before, with its early estimates of one to two hundred thousand lives lost, grieves the world — yet more lives than that enter eternity without salvation every single day. Births outnumber deaths, or the world would shrink; the question for the church is how many new births are happening in the same span.
- The burden becomes a litany. We have choirs, choruses, and conductors — but what about the world? Buildings, budgets, and baptismals; degrees, deacons, and deadlines; programs, promotions, and product; websites, worries, and work; Facebook, cyberspace, and Myspace — but what about the world? The first-century church had almost none of it and still reached its world. Our burdens, he says, should span from Baltimore to Bangladesh, from Detroit to the Dominican, from Alexandria to Austria — because at every moment we sit in the building, people are slipping off into eternity. What changed the world two thousand years ago will indeed change the world today.
- The answer is in the last part of his text: and they. We will reach the world only when we start seeing it as they — individual people, every single solitary one of whom matters to God. Global impact is built out of individual impact; as Mother Teresa said, the one who looks at the masses will never act, and the one who looks at the one will. The eye must be single. And words and actions must agree: when the church says one thing with its mouth and does something else with its hands, there is a problem — Jacob's voice with Esau's hands. He calls for radical change: stop waiting for the approval of systems, organizations, and committees, and rise up and have revival. Somewhere in our history we bought the lie that we could reach cities and countries single-handedly, and men now hold their communities hostage, determined to reach them alone; but Jesus Christ was the only one who could do it by himself. And there is the matter of time: 168 hours in a week, 8,760 in a year, some 438,000 in a fifty-year ministry — most of it spent sleeping, counseling, organizing, and solving saved saints' temporary problems, while the purpose of our calling goes neglected.
- His own testimonies are small and close to home. A few Wednesday nights before, preaching on soul winning, he left his own church gripped, pulled an invitation from his console, and stopped at the guard house in his development, where Joanne — a woman he had passed for two years — received the invitation, came the next Sunday, sat beside his wife in her first church service in twenty-two years, and wept with her hands in the air. A waitress named Rita, invited once in a restaurant two months earlier, still had the pen they gave her; she and Kenny were picked up for service, and both were in the altar with their hands raised and the Holy Ghost falling on them. Empty baptismal tanks and tearless altars, he says, are not the people's fault alone: quit waiting on your people to do it and get it done yourself — they will only follow you as you set the example.
- He closes standing, with a card in every hand. Each person is to write on the back of it the names of three people who do not know God — not backsliders, not those who have rejected the message for years, but the man at the cleaners, the lady who cuts your hair, someone never spoken to before. Three thousand people leaving with three names each is nine thousand people — larger than the whole Apostolic church in his home state. A thousand preachers challenging an average of eighty people each is 240,000 names in a single year. It isn't hard, he says. You want to talk about global impact — start having an individual impact. With that he hands the service back to the host pastor.
Scriptures: Psalm 24:1; Psalm 50:12; 1 Corinthians 9:16-22; Matthew 6:22; Genesis 27:22
Scripture index: Psalm 24:1; Psalm 50:12; 1 Corinthians 9:16-22; Matthew 6:22; Genesis 27:22.
Transcript
praise the Lord everybody let's give Jesus a great big hand of praise come on let's give him praise in this house for just a few moments he's worthy of that praise amen let me just take a brief moment here to recognize my wife I love you Lisa I'm glad you're here so many friends present in this building I look across the crowd and I thank you for 10 years of evangelism many of you allowed my wife and I to come to your churches and I thank you for that I thank God for 10 years in the mountains of Western North Carolina and what a honor it has been the last two and a half years to be in Fayetteville with one of the heroes of the faith Jesse Williams I do want to acknowledge the because of the times selection committee the sponsors the speakers the officials that are here all of the ministers and families thank you for this opportunity the fact remains that leaders are readers and so my gift to you in light of what we heard this week is a recommendation of a book that I feel will help every minister in this place written by Dr Richard Swenson it's a book entitled margin if you have not read it it goes hand in hand with what the doctor talked with us about on Wednesday thank you for this moment God bless you and you may be seated foreign thank you recently I was reminded of the sacrifice that many of our men many men that are making sacrifices every day for our freedom these are human beings of extreme ability strength and dedication it is to the mission that they are so committed nothing sways them from the cause not the favor of promotion nor The Dread of preparation and the ugly face of danger only ignites within them a deeper determination and more passionate desire fear and uncertainty continue to embolden their resolve these are the Elite fighting men of the United States Navy Seals their official philosophy reads in times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of War you're ready to answer our nation's call a common man with uncommon desire to succeed forged by adversity he stands alongside America's Finest Special Operations forces to serve his country and the American people and to protect their way of life I am that man my Trident is a symbol of honor and Heritage bestowed upon me by the heroes who have gone before it embodies the trust of Those whom I have sworn to protect by wearing the Trident I accept the responsibility of My Chosen profession and way of life it is a privilege that I must earn every day my loyalty to Country and team is beyond reproach I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow Americans always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves I do not advertise the nature of my work nor seek recognition for my actions I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession placing the welfare and security of others before my own I serve with Honor on and off the battlefield the ability to control my emotions and my actions regardless of circumstance sets me apart
from other men uncompromising Integrity is my standard my character and honor are steadfast my word is my bond we expect to lead and be led in the absence of orders I will take charge lead my teammates and accomplish the mission I lead by example in all situations I will never quit I persevere and thrive on adversity my nation expects me to be physically harder mentally stronger than my enemies if knocked down I will get back up every time I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish the mission I am never out of the fight we demand discipline we expect Innovation the lives of my teammates and the success of the mission depends on me my technical skill technical proficiency and attention to detail my training is never complete we train for war and we fight to win I stand ready to bring the full spectrum of combat power to bear in order to achieve my mission and the goals established by my country the execution of my duties will be Swift and violent when required yet Guided by the very principles I serve to defend brave men have fought and died building the proud tradition and feared reputation that I am bound to uphold in the worst of conditions the legacy of my teammate steadies my resolve and silently guides my every deed I will not fail on Monday the 27th day of June 2005. four highly trained heavily equipped focused Defenders of U.S freedom face what would prove to be the most devastating Massacre this branch of Warriors have faced today knowing the danger that awaited in the treacherous Northeastern mountain peaks of Afghanistan extremely aware of the elevated cost involved and consumed with the fire of purpose that burns in the heart of those called to fight they pressed on in unmatched exilerants at the end of that week six days and four hours to be exact a week of hellish nightmare 19 American soldiers were dead with only one of the original four to leave that mission alive millions of dollars went into the recruiting testing and preparing of these men but there comes a time when money cannot change the outcome of hatred money cannot change the outcome of Terror money cannot change the outcome of violent aggression that devastating mission was identified as Operation Red Wing the personal story of the single Survivor Marcus Luttrell and his fight to live will grip your heart to say the least the heroics of those highly trained and expertly skilled seals should motivate us this evening to refuse defeat in this mission that is known as operation personal evangelism thank you sister Mangan for what you said today we have been given a mission Psalms 24 and 1 declares the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein the world and they who live in it from the NIV the world and all its people belonging to him the NLT the world and the inhabitants in it the ylt the world belongs to him and so do all those who live in it in i r v as we can readily see many Bible translations share the same sentiments as the King James version it isn't my intention to take anything away from the first portion of this verse even though it does seem to get all of the attention the Earth is the Lord's men and women at every level of society
every level of influence every level of religious practice have joined the cause to care for the Earth we read about going green we read about recycling we read about smart cars we read about global warming and everybody wants to talk about Mother Earth but my question here tonight is what about the world what about the world our Focus will be found in the closing part of this scripture David said the world and they that dwell therein Psalms 50 and 12 God's word declares it this way for the World is Mine the greatest accomplishment for the adversary in our hour would be to cause you and I the church to be distracted to get distracted from her real purpose isn't it amazing how we have arrived at the place in Kingdom work that so many lesser things have replaced the purpose for our existence the now decorated Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell accepted as did his Fallen comrades the danger difficulty and distress of the potential Mission ahead the possible reward and the uncertain outcome was sheer adrenaline for them it is the purpose soldier that says I need an adjourning boost every once in a while I don't want to lay around so much that I can't get up and get something done when it's time to attack what is before me it is adrenaline that keeps them going accomplishment is the ultimate Energizer for a man that is determined to make his life count for something for those operating in the special forces of our military inconveniences are accepted for the greater cause readily they endure unimaginable training by those who know the rigors of battle firsthand methodically they are pushed beyond the breaking point mentally emotionally physically and socially it's necessary so nothing will catch them by surprise when the chips are down and lives are on the line and freedom is compromised news coming to us from the Indian Ocean last April was a surprise for many but not to them when a few Navy Seals were called to an ongoing five-day standoff a dangerous situation with hostile Somali pirates the scene was a wave tossed Lifeboat Tethered to a multi-million dollar Bainbridge three Somali pirates were holding the American captain of the USS Alabama Richard Phillips hostage image with an AK-47 leveled at his back lying on the deck of the Bainbridge were three Navy snipers waiting on a directive word when in a moment's time the silence was interrupted by three simultaneous shots the hostage was free the Pirates were dead and the ordeal was over they were prepared for the unexpected I've wondered often if the church is really prepared for what we have been given in this last hour every day men around this world are paying a high price to provide for us a temporary protection at best and sad to say at this very same time the mission of God's people goes unattended to the Eternal Destiny of man's Soul resting in our hands I read a statement recently that struck a deep cord in my spirit it talked about the saints of God being content and satisfied to live under the Shadow and the protection of the church bell when we should be positioned at the gates of hell with a message of Salvation too many of us are living too close to the church door and not close enough to the door of hell While others can sleep comfortable at night the apostolic church should feel the discomfort of an approaching Eternity for those who are without God if our world is not reached who will bear the responsibility of that neglected reality I propose to each one of us in this place tonight that the tremendous weight of Eternity rests squarely upon the Church of the Living
God and those who make up his body presently there are six billion 797 million 211 984 people alive in our world we have a Divine opportunity right now I said we have a Divine opportunity right now we have more of a Divine opportunity right now than at any other time in the history of the world for a great Revival for a Great Harvest and for a great increase it's here it's not coming it's here it is into this prophetically Rich hour unprecedented potential for favor is available to the church now but intersecting with this truth is the surety of an impending judgment that is swiftly approaching us the New Testament writer said it in a conviction Laden tone First Corinthians 9 and 16 for though I preach the gospel I have nothing to Glory of for necessity is laid upon me yea Woe Is unto me if I preach not the gospel for if I do this thing willingly I have a reward but if against my will a dispensation of the Gospel is committed unto me what is my reward then verily that when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel of Christ without charge that I abuse not my power in the gospel for though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more and unto the Jews became I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law as under the law that I might gain them that are under the law to them that are without the law as without law being not without law to God but under the law of Christ that I might gain them that are without law to the weak became high as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all men that I might by all mean and say son I ask you a question is the church convicted to the level that Paul was about propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ we too often allow ourselves to think that we can live above our own message we can live above our own message our own expectations that we have placed on everyone else there are no free passes when it comes to Soul winning and when it comes to personal evangelism even if you're the preacher there is no free passer there is no free pass ma'am what attention the rider must have found himself caught in when he pinned those words Woe Is unto me he was obviously being stretched in different direction we have become so heavy on certain things and focused on the external expectations of worldly business that the real reason for our existence has been Forsaken and abandoned by many at least we forget we are the church we are the body of Christ we are the answer for the world we are the bride not big business I'm not a business owner I'm a preacher I'm not an entrepreneur I'm an evangelist the tug of Unthinkable tribulation is being felt the pull of an unending eternity is present the realization of being drawn into a Deployable damnation is what the world is experiencing all around us every day in my allotted time tonight there will be three thousand seven hundred and forty five individuals who will slip off into a flame engulfed heat saturated eternity let me help us understand this for a moment that equates to more than 150 000 deaths every day
to put this into perspective out in the aftermath of of Hades devastating earthquake last week the early estimates are Psalm 100 to 200 000 lives lost with grief the world looks on trying to desperately deal with such numbers but to put this in real terms more lives than that are entering into eternity every day without salvation all right every day every day during the same amount of time eight thousand five hundred and seventy five births will transpire which equates to some 353 015 births a day so for growth to transpire in the world more births than deaths must take place here is a question for the church tonight how many new births are happening during this same allotted time while the world is dying lost thank you we have choirs choruses and conductors but what about the world we have buildings budgets and baptismals but what about the world we have degrees deacons and deadlines but what about the world we have programs promotions and product but what about the world we have resources revivals reminders but what about the world we have worship and word and workers but what about the world we have Ministries men and meetings but what about the world we have Services sermons and series but what about the world we have Bibles binders and bulletins but what about the world we have rules restrictions and rituals but what about the world we have cars cruises and critics but what about the world we have vocations vacations and Visions but what about the world we have staffs salaries and stuff but what about the world we have websites worries and work but what about the world we have campuses Crusades and conferences but what about the world we have contacts congregations and commitments but what about the world we have text TV and Twitter but what about the world we have babies bands and buses but what about the world we have requirements religion and Rebels but what about the world we have departments demands and Devils but what about the world we have Facebook cyberspace and Myspace but what about the world we have podcasts email updates but what about the world Jesus didn't have much of that but he still LED a group of men turn the world upside down in evangelism our burdens should span from Baltimore to Bangladesh from Detroit to the Dominican from New York to New Zealand from Boston to Bermuda from Alexandria to Austria from Cleveland to China from Seattle to Singapore from Montreal to Malaysia from Pittsburgh to the Philippines because people are right now every moment we sit in this building slipping off into eternity we must be awakened out of our sleep stripped of our well-honed excuses confronted on our deep-seated conscience soothers and defended on the grounds of our ingrained deformed way of viewing the laws high for one am a firm believer that what changed the world two thousand years ago will indeed change the world today Hallelujah every man every woman every preacher every singer every saint every teacher every missionary every Elder every leader every official every musician every Minister's Wife every
Deacon every trustee every secretary every staff member every presbyter every superintendent every Ministry director every young man every young woman every age person every family member must Faithfully face the Fallen every day in every place and in every way people steal Reach people somebody may be saying we're doing everything that we can to reach the world our very organization has had as its guiding Manifesto for many decades the whole gospel to the whole world by the whole church but in reality we are farther behind today than we were then in terms of the populace of the world I believe the answers found in the last part of our text where it simply says and they we will reach the world only when we start seeing it as they to convert people we have to understand that every single solitary individual matters to God to achieve Global impact we must make an individual impact our Focus must be on individuals first Mother Teresa said if I look at the masses I will never Act if I look at one I will could it be that we place more emphasis on World Vision than we have on individual vision well I might as well wait in I'm afraid that we've adopted a world view and lost our individual Focus the world would be won when nations are one when countries are won when individuals are one Matthew 6 22 the scripture declares that our eyes should be single the light of the body is the eye if therefore then I be single thy whole body shall be full of light don't misunderstand my usage of this scripture the context is not what I'm after just a brief reference to the singleness of vision Genesis 27 and 22 declares and Jacob went near unto Isaac his father and he felt him and said the voice is Jacob's voice but the hands are the hands of Esau when our words and our actions don't go together there's a problem the church is saying one thing with our mouths and doing something else with our hands when it comes to evangelism we talk the talk but we don't walk the walk it's sad to say that our actions are not matching up with our words if this is the case in your life if this is the case in your Church's life then I call you out to radical change tonight I recommend that we stop worrying about it stop stressing over what others may think and let's go ahead and have Revival we don't have to gain the approval of systems we don't have to gain the approval of organizations we don't have to gain the approval of committees to experience Apostolic Revival outpouring in Harvest quit waiting on somebody else to do it forget what they think and rise up and have a Revival when I view the apostolic movement the United Pentecostal Church in particular after being a part of this my whole life something is screaming out within me the sound and alarm tonight that we had better not neglect investing in the coming generations of Soul winners men of God who are you investing in for the sake of dying Millions Minister's wives what kind of sole investment are you making right now I feel compelled to get close to where we're living for a few moments somewhere in our history we bought into the faulty feelings that we could single-handedly reach cities we could single-handedly reach countries and worlds alone became our badge of honor and in fact the only thing that some in our past Generations would even give Credence or respect to you just got to go die son So today we're farther behind in
worldwide Revival farther behind in the mission than we've ever been thousands of Truth preaching people work like it is only through them that God desires to do anything for many the mindset has been that if it's not a sacrifice then God will never bless it unless we alienate from one another begin to build our little camps fight somebody on the other side of town hold cities captive in our hostage grip we don't want anybody coming close we don't want anybody starting anything else around us we think we can handle it all by ourselves brothers and sisters I come to you tonight to say are you willing to stand before God with the blood of hundreds and thousands of people in your community who are determined you're going to reach them by yourself it's past time we Engage The People God has put under our influence in the rapidly passing Harvest Jesus Christ was the only one that could do it by himself stop trying to upstage the master and get involved in an effort with brothers and sisters to reach this world I'm moving right along each of us are given 168 hours a week 728 20 hours in a month 8760 hours in a year in the lifespan of a 50-year Ministry we are graciously given some 438 000 hours you and I can spend the buck of that time sleeping counseling organizing eating socializing playing vacationing studying hoping wishing traveling shopping or whatever else comes to mind and never get around to reaching I lost how much of that Ministry was and is being invested in pouring your passion your vision your Concepts into mobilizing Soul Harvesters I need to go through this as ministers we've dealt with problems misunderstandings fielded unanswerable questions by the truckloads our Ministries are plagued with everything confusing time consuming and shallow how boldly declare from this Pulpit tonight that it is the deceptive Ploy of hell to distract the tour and delay our Apostolic efforts in the area of Soul winning we spend the book of our time and energy on Save Saints problems that in the light of Eternity are temporary and we blatantly neglect the purpose of our callings the individual and Collective Mission we undertake is not completely satisfied over and done with when the lives of the redeemed are healed whole and Hazard free while the world dies unimaginable deaths and slip off into a gruesome grip of Eternity face and even more devastating future we are at a Crossroads my motivation for this message comes from the fact that in the 35 minutes that I trust I'll spend here 3745 people created by God individuals will enter into eternity lost without him for every candle that you see going out every candle that you see exhausted and extinguished the last several minutes every minute a candle has gone out it represented 107 lives that died in that minute with all of the efforts that we have going on in our individual Ministries my point this evening is to remind us that nothing nothing should interfere with our Focus on the Lost few Wednesday nights ago had preached to the church about Soul winning and as I left the church God gripped me I was I was driving toward the house I got an invitation out of the middle console and I said God I'm going to talk to her tonight it's been two years I'm going to talk to her tonight I can't go to bed tonight unless I talk to somebody so as I drove past the guard house there in our development she happened to be standing there and I rolled my window down with the invitation in my hand
she said Mr Mitchell I said yes yes Joanne she said I heard you were a preacher said yes Joanne she said know that I said well Joanne right here in my hand is an invitation I want to invite you to my church she said I'd love to come and so I handed it out the window two years later Sunday a week after that she walked in the first time she'd been in a church in 22 years the only other Church she'd ever been into was a Catholic church and she came to the second row and sat down beside my wife and before the service was over her hands were in the air and tears were running down her face she told my wife I've never felt anything like this before what am I feeling she's been coming ever since two weeks ago my wife and I were in a restaurant the waitress said to us you were the people that invited me to your church we did that two months ago saw her one time she remembered us two months later and said you were the people that invited we said yes we did we'd love to have you she said well I want to come and she said I still have the pen that you gave me well Rita you want to come this Sunday she said yes I'd love to I don't have a way to get there I said that's no problem we have transportation we'll pick you up we picked Rita and Kenny up Sunday a week ago for service they were there Reed and Kenny were in the altar with their hands raised Holy Ghost falling on them I'm trying to preach to someone in this place and tell you this world's going to hell and we're going through our motions and we think we've got everything right you go visit New York City you go visit Miami you go visit Chicago you go visit some of these places and walk through the streets and say we're not doing anything look at the millions of people that are lost somehow because of the times I speak to you tonight what about the world what about the world empty baptismal tanks no tears in your altar can't remember the last time somebody was filled with the Holy Ghost quit waiting on your people to do it and get up and get it done yourself they will only follow you as you set the example just stay standing all over the building I have one last thing and I I conclude if I could have the host ushers whoever's helping me quickly here these good folks are going to put something in your hand I want you to take a card Mr Mangan When You Preach Today I just pulled the card out of my pocket and said thank you Jesus you're taking a card in your hand that if tonight 3 000 people in this place would accept my challenge to ride on the back of that card three names of people who do not know him I'm not talking about backsliders I'm not talking about people you've worked on for years I'm not talking about those that have rejected you oh I'm talking about the man at the cleaners the lady that cuts your hair a person you never spoke to the first time I want their name on this because others have had plenty of chances we're going to spend all of our time working in fields where there's no Harvest coming oh and we're going to let the world go to hell I challenge you to put three names on the back of that card and we're going to pray over you and 3 000 people leaving this place with three names if we reach them that's nine thousand people if we do it this year that's larger than the North Carolina Apostolic Church if 9 000 people are reached that's bigger than we have in North Carolina we might have 10 or 11 000 on Easter when everybody's up but if those that would accept my challenge would just say there's a thousand ministers preachers somebody that has influence if a thousand preachers in here would take this home and challenge an average of 80 people in your church that's 80 000 people with three names that's 240 000 people this isn't hard in one year two hundred and forty thousand people if we all could just reach three you want to talk about global impact start having an individual impact so the card is in your hand if you turn
that over thank you Pastor Mangan I just leave this remaining part to you
Scripture references as spoken: Psalm 24:1; Psalm 50:12; 1 Corinthians 9:16-22; Matthew 6:22; Genesis 27:22.