Excerpts from a KEEPING IN TOUCH e-newsletter from Emmaus Road, International <Neal_Pirolo@eri.org> http://www.eri.org

In our world--as full and rewarding as it may be--it is easy to forget the greatness--the sheer magnitude--of His Great Commission. We see the store clerk in her position behind the counter passing our food selections over the scanner. We say "hi" to the mailman as he walks by, mailbag over his shoulder. Our printer, our office supplier, our hair stylist (OK, I know I don't have enough hair to need one, but you probably have one!), the person behind the bullet-proof glass who takes our money for the self-service gas all fit into familiar pictures. So familiar have they become that our relationships with them can easily be mere routines--meaningless, rote conversations. But I have just been out of the context of my culture. The persons crammed in the Jeepney with me are not the store clerk, the mailman, the printer. They are just people! And I have seen them again as people--God's finest workmanship--poems created in Christ Jesus to do those good deeds that He beforehand planned for us to walk in. (Eph 2:10) And how grieved He must be as He sees the millions, even billions ignore that God-shaped emptiness in their hearts. Or, others rushing here and there, trying to fill the emptiness with every pursuit of man. Others trudging along, seemingly oblivious to anything beyond their eking out a daily subsistence. Still others betray an apathy--blank stares sitting for hours with nothing to do but wait for dusk. Only to repeat the routine on another day. I am sure that if I looked beyond the scanner, the mailbag and the bullet proof glass, I would also see the needy in our jungles of concrete and steel. And that is the point Christ made: GO YE into all the world--Jerusalem (where I find myself at the present time), Judea (cooperating in strategic partnerships with ministries trying to impact my county, state, province), Samaria (His message of forgiveness is for the "unloveables" of the world.) and to the uttermost parts of the earth (any environment in which cultural distinctives must be crossed in order to present a Gospel message relevant to the hearer).

GO YE requires no magical formula.
GO YE requires no "booming voice from Heaven!"
GO YE is not an invitation.
GO YE is not an option.
GO YE is a command given.

May we--each in our unique context of relationships--GO into the world of others to share in word and deed the Good News--the Emancipation Proclamation of our eternal soul. "GO YE!" our Master simply said.

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