1 Corinthians 9.16-17 (NLT) - “Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.”

“There are different things that you think about when people are doing this to you. The first is, I don’t like this. The second is, I wonder if I will get sick from everyone spitting on me? So I tried to sing with my mouth closed. Finally, I thought, Okay, God, if you want me to be spat on for you I’m willing, but if you can get them to stop, that’s okay, too!

Through Tanya, my Russian translator, I said, ‘I have a message for you tonight. “God loves Novosibirsk.”‘ From that moment I felt God’s powerful energy flow through the auditorium. Some people still laughed and mocked, though by now many also listened. [...] Somehow the more they spat, the more compassion I felt for these broken and desperate kids. It was getting towards the end of the concert. I now felt I needed to say something. It didn’t seem like the kind of venue where I could speak openly about Jesus, but still I knew I had to.” (David Pierce, Rock Priest, p. 16)

Preaching the gospel is a sacred trust given only to Christ’s disciples. They have “no choice” in the matter… there is no sign-up sheet, God doesn’t beg volunteers for their spare time nor flatter celebrities to leverage their platform. Christ’s disciples are compelled by God Himself to proclaim the Good News. No matter the circumstance, the obstacles, the risk, the hostility… they can’t help themselves but to preach salvation in Jesus. What is God’s message for you? for your city? for your school? God loves ____________________________! Pray for God’s message to be amplified!

-JP