Coming soon

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [NKJV]

This is the passage in the Bible commonly referred to as “The Great Commission.” These were the last words – or at least a portion of the last words – of Christ before He ascended into heaven. 

Last words. Great Commission. Go. All nations. I had heard and learned about these verses and words since I was a little boy, and then of course we studied about this passage in college while training to be a pastor and preach and teach. 

But that night…they cut deep. Remember, I has asked the Holy Spirit to show me myself how HE saw me. Show me the REAL ME! And that night on that front porch, spiritual lightning struck. 

It was stronger than an audible voice because it did not come from the outside and into my ears. It was a spiritual earthquake communication that came from deep, deep inside my very being; I had an illumination and sobering shaking inside my spirit like I had never experienced before. 

I was aware for the first time in my life just how miserably I had personally failed at obeying and fulfilling the “Great Commission” in my life. I had been taught about it; I had known about it; I had studied it; I had preached it! But live it? And practice it? Nope. 

Understand, I could witness about Christ from a pulpit. Preach a sermon about Christ and the life-changing salvation He died and rose again for to deliver us from sin? Sure! But that was just a small part of my responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission. 

Because the Great Commission is a surrender and a transformation and a life-style of obedience lived out every day of a Christian’s mission. The Great Commission is not a sermon preached on Sunday but life lived every day, everywhere and before everyone in word and deed that exposes your transformed heart. I become a walking and talking witness of Christ’s salvation. 

However, I never did much face-to-face witnessing. It felt uncomfortable. Awkward. It just wasn’t my gifting, I told myself. 

And all of this personal revelation struck me in an instant that night on that front porch. Christ’s last words. His final instructions before He ascended. This Great Commission was the foundation and the starting point of the earthly mission of every child of God. And I was supposed to be a minister? A pastor? A teacher of Truth? 

I began to weep like a little child. I was bawling. I’m talking ugly cry. 

So I did what any self-respecting, dignified, ordained preacher would do in that situation. I went on Facebook Live. 

Yep. I did that. I confessed my failure to unashamedly share the Gospel of Christ in my every day life, wiped the snot off my face, sang an old hymn about sharing Christ boldly with a lost and dying world (in several different keys…in each line) and committed myself to obedience to the Great Commission each day for the rest of my life on this earth! Live. Ugly cry and all. 

*I did not know it at the time, but Facebook has a time limit for live posts to remain on your personal homepage so I thought that post would be there forever. My ego was a little relieved not too long ago when I discovered that post was gone and I learned about that policy. 

 

So then my question was, “Now what, God? How do I witness?” I had spent my religious lifetime separating myself from the world. I did not have relationships with sinners. And I knew - because I had taught it myself - that you need to have relationship or some sort of connection with someone to effectively share Christ. But until now that had simply been good, Godly teaching for others. So what about me now? 

I did not get an answer that night. Do you realize how frustrating and uncomfortable that is? I had this life-shaking spiritual earthquake that awakened me to a foundational failure to obey God that night and it gave birth to a number of important questions that needed answers! But not that night. I had to wait. And just be quiet.

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)

Oh, now there’s another Bible verse that has even greater meaning now, too. 

So I waited. And I continued to serve, worship and pray. And a few days later the answer began to come into my spirit. Compared to that night on the front porch, it was more like a whisper than an earthquake this time. However, it was just as powerful and life-changing. I was probably just driving down the road, too. That’s when a lot of answers seem to gently come to me after the spiritual earthquakes on the front porch: driving in the car. I don’t think there is any theology there. It’s just a personal experience for me. 

One word. TESTIFY. Almost laughably simple. But isn’t that how God speaks to us? We are the ones that make walking with Him in a loving and obedient relationship so difficult and confusing. TESTIFY. There is no need to have a spiritual speech prepared and guns loaded for a theological argument that you must win in order to share Christ with someone. Just share your story. Testify. Because no one can tell your story like you can.

And thus began the vision of Testify With Me. A ministry website built specifically to help Christians share their testimony story with others and thus fulfill the Great Commission mission to witness about Christ to the nations. 

And so whether you are reading this the first day this website is officially launched or several years into this ministry, we are just beginning, continuing to learn, and allowing God to transform us and lead us in whatever direction He desires.  

‎ 

Come on and join in and Testify With Me!

Eric and Cliffette Campbell