Veteran Assemblies of God Pastor Dan Betzer makes the following comment, tongue in cheek, “One can afford to be dogmatic when he knows he is right.”
Here are five things I am ready to be dogmatic about as we live our faith in 2023.
The world will not get better. There is no political, monetary, or humanitarian magic pill that can reverse the present devolution of Western culture. The inescapable fact is that we are catapulting toward the wrap-up of time as we know it. That should not surprise us, but it should motivate us.
God is still in absolute control. I may wring my hands, lose sleep and fear my future, but it will all be for naught. The Alpha and Omega is firmly in charge. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God. What He has declared about the year ahead will happen, and nothing outside of His sovereign plan will be allowed. We have not been abandoned to our own devices. We are not boats adrift at sea. We may as well rest trusting in the Sovereign God who runs the whole operation and never slumbers, not sleeps.
The Gospel is still the power of God for salvation. There is still bright hope for sinful man. Jesus is still the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Whoever comes to Him humbly in faith and asks for forgiveness with a repentant heart will never be turned away. That person will be given eternal life and be transformed from the inside out. The power of Christ in the life of a repentant sinner is just as effective as ever.
People are searching harder for purpose and meaning than ever before. There is a falsehood circulating that suggests Canadians are resistant to the Gospel. The truth is the exact opposite. There is a spiritual openness and hunger which I have never before witnessed in seven decades of living. There are a limitless number of opportunities to share Jesus with people of all ages. The fertility of the soil is not the problem, but rather the need for sowers. The response is great when the Gospel is shared in an honest, caring, relational context. People find it hard to resist kindness.
Any church that passionately embraces the Great Commandment and the Great Commission cannot be stopped and will thrive in the year ahead. With the exception of the Western world, the living Global Church of Jesus is expanding at an exponential rate not witnessed since the Day of Pentecost. Statistics tell the tale at a current annual growth rate of 1.7% of the population turning to Christ, with 2.56 billion people identified as Christian by the middle of 2022. By 2050, that number will top 3.33 billion.
This is our finest hour. Churches in North America that are re-engaging with the mission to love neighbour as self, to carry the Gospel into the marketplace, and to make disciples, are growing and prevailing. They are causing their respective communities to sit up and take notice.
Aside from these five unalterable facts, I know nothing about the course 2023 will take. But, knowing these things, I know enough.
I am predicting a banner year for Christ and His Kingdom on Earth.
Al is an experienced pastor and counselor who works out of our ABNWT District Resource Centre in Edmonton as the Pastoral Care Coordinator. A pastor to the pastors, Al is a friend, mentor, and confidante to all.