Emily Tomko - "For All those who love His appearing‪"‬ Emily Tomko

The ushering in of a New Year is a perfect time to  reflect on the last year with gratitude, and to commit to going deeper  with the Lord in the coming one.

A few months back I shared how the Lord prompted me to “up my game” in my prayer life by praying fifteen minutes a day in the Spirit, by  the clock   I must confess that at times it has felt tedious, even  rote.  Other times, I  lingered long after my timer went off because I  didn’t want to leave.

But  regardless of how it “feels,”  The discipline of praying in tongues  fifteen minutes a day has had a remarkable impact on my faith and also  in my ability to strategically pray for individuals and situations.

We know intellectually that life is fragile, and that any one of us  could leave this world at any time. But the reality has become much more  than theory recently. We have loved ones who should still be here. They  have been taken from us suddenly, and seemingly before their time.

Never  has this hit home more than the last couple of weeks.  To chat with a  friend at church and make plans for the following week, only the next  morning to hear that this bright light among us is now gone. It seems  impossible to reconcile the news as real.

Is there anything  redemptive that can come out of this culture of death that has thrown  its nets over the global community these last few years?

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Keywords: eternal life, died suddenly, death to self

Pastor Jonathan Conrathe tells an amazing story of leading the head anesthesiologist  from the  World Health Organization to Christ on an airplane. This  anesthesiologist professed that he believed in God because of how  routinely during surgery the medical team would open up a patient to  discover that whatever malady they were operating for was already  healed. The head surgeon would say, “We will say nothing of this” and  they’d stitch him back up. Inevitably, the anesthesiologist said that  they discovered the patient was either a Christian or had a church  praying for him.

Following this remarkable conversation, the  anesthesiologist went back to his newspaper. Jonathan realized that  while the man believed in God, this didn’t mean that he necessarily was  regenerated. When he asked him if he had ever asked Christ to be Lord  and Savior, the man replied, “Well, no. No one ever told me that was the  way to get to God.”  The doctor then prayed with Jonathan to receive  Christ.

The story highlights how we must always be ready to give an appeal for Christ.

Jesus is coming back quickly and people are not ready. The thought  governs my awareness, and yet at times I feel paralyzed to do much about  it.

When an evangelist and his team of nine men and women from  the UK came to help stir us to action, it was a powerful shot in the  arm.  (This evangelist was Jonathan Conrathe with whom we’d worked three years ago in the city of Harrisburg; his incredible testimonies and sermons can be found at Mission 24.)

The  “us” consisted of over a dozen local churches of varying denominations,  about half of them Spanish.  There is something demonstrably powerful  about church leadership setting aside differences, denominations, and  personal styles, and pastors honoring and deferring to one another.  The Holy Spirit begins to move with swift and astonishing might...

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During a time of prayer recently I heard the words, "Time to up your game."

In a church culture that shies away from the idea of striving or works, one might question, was that really the Holy Spirit?

The  message however came with a very specific directive.  The Lord reminded  me of a rookie missionary to Hong Kong, Jackie Pullinger,  who was  counseled by her mentors to pray in the spirit 15 minutes each day. She  says this...

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Do we profess the truth even though it might offend a brother?  Or do  we only speak certain truths because if we dilute truth to the least  common denominator we can still label it unity?

Is divisiveness in itself a sin?

Martin Luther said, “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every  portion of the Word of God except precisely that little point which the  world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing  Christ, however boldly I may be professing Him. Where the battle rages  there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the  battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that  point.”

These are questions I have wrestled with as others - even people I respect - have sometimes admonished the church "stay away from politics"...

For more, or to check out the links referenced, go to www.emily.tomko.com