Jackie Pullinger...

here is the text of what she says:

The principle of the gospel is this: The gospel always brings life to the receiver and death to the giver. If the gospel brought death to Jesus Christ, why would we think that in preaching the gospel it would be any less for us? So no, He says, “If anybody would be my disciple, he must take up his cross and follow me.” If it killed Him to give life to us, and He invites us then to do the same, why would we expect that it would be any less? So the mixture of our message is life and death and laughter and tears, and such it is. But for us, (haha) life is never ordinary; life is never flat.

And this is what Jesus said about His Father in John 17, “The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life… only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me.” Jesus was not sentenced to die by His Father. He was allowed to choose. “I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” And He said, “This is why My Father loves Me.” God the Father had this extraordinary plan of winning you and me for eternity by having His Son killed. But His Son voluntarily responded. No, it’s not so easy for Him to respond. In fact, He spent His whole life practicing. And even the night before it was still difficult for Jesus. And He said, “God, is there another way? Is there another way?” And I know many, many people in the church say, “Is there another way?” And in our Hong Kong churches it does look as if there’s another way. Normal Christians live a normal Christian life, go to meetings, jump up and down on stages, while we are exhausted and dying. And they (say), “Oh you’ve got a special ministry, Jackie.” And I say, “No, I think, I think we’re all called to give up our lives. Would you like to do this with us? We’d really like some help.”

The poor people all over the earth who have never heard of Jesus, they are the poorest people. They are desperate for food. They are desperate for blankets. They’re desperate for medicine. They’re desperate for water. The most number of people worldwide who have never heard about the love of our Lord Jesus Christ are desperately poor. And they are not going to come here to hear the gospel. We have to go there. So why haven’t people gone? It’s something to do with guarding a life and living a normal life, so other people can go. But I say, “No, why don’t you all go if you’ve tasted such good things? Go to the ends of the earth because those poor aren’t going to watch Jesus on TV. They haven’t got electricity. They’re not going to hear about Him unless we go. So would you?”

I’m here with a plea for you. If you’ve known the love of God, if you’ve tasted of His sweetness at all, there’s no other way to serve Him except giving up your life. And this is voluntary. This is not a sentence of death at all. We’re not sentenced to death. We’re just privileged to answer His call.

my response: wow.
when i first heard this in november, the parts that stood out to me were at the beginning: "the gospel always brings life to the receiver and death to the giver." and "so the mixture of our message is life and death and laughter and tears, and such it is." sharing Christ will bring death to me. it's like paul talks about in 2 corinthians 4:12, "thus death is actively at work in us, but [it is in order that our] life [may be actively at work] in you." (amplified version). besides that, it is the Christian walk/the Christian life: "then [Jesus] said to them all: 'if anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it" (luke 9:23-24, niv). that's a daily death, a continual/continuous death, moment by moment. and that just makes me think of jim elliot saying, "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." it's just true. that's all i have to finish that off. ha.

but now watching it again, the part that really gets me is when she says, "go to the ends of the earth because those poor aren't going to watch Jesus on TV. they haven't got electricity." that means we are the answer. for them to know about Jesus we have to go tell them. period.
and also, at the end, "if you've known the love of God, if you've tasted of His sweetness at all, there's no other way to serve Him except giving up your life." i mean, i guess this goes back to the first part i was discussing--it's a death. but what really gets me are the if statements "if you've known the love of God, if you've tasted of His sweetness at all..." AND WE HAVE! we have and we do know His love! and we have tasted His sweetness, even if it was just a drop! i'm just not so sure that they have... and if i believe what jackie is saying then i only have one response i can make--go. last year i heard this guy speak briefly about missions, and right now what comes to mind was his saying, "either you go or your money goes." that's because missions is what we are called to as believers--to go make disciples. and no matter where you are--if you're in the united states or if you're in africa--it applies to you and it's a lifestyle.

i just want to know what your response is.