Why I'm Starting a New Organization

I'm starting a new organization because I want Jesus to come back.  I'm tired of this present world (wars, terrorism, violence, divorce, trafficking, injustice, graft) and I believe the promises of God that He has a MUCH better place for us.  But some things have to happen first and honestly, we just have not done a good job doing what Jesus told us to do -- go into all the world and make disciples among all people groups.  Today, about 2.5 billion people of the world's 7 billion people have never even heard the name of Jesus.  That's an injustice.  One billion people SAY they follow Jesus or believe in Him in some way.  Jesus made it very clear too that He would not come back until there were believers from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (see my footnote on this).  This was part of God's plan from the very beginning.  

So, I have decided to start a missions organization that will seek to hasten (speed up) the coming back of Jesus.  The Hastening comes from this passage in 2 Peter:

 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies[a] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.[b]

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

 Here's what I am going to do:

1.  The Hastening is already a legally recognized non-profit corporation with full 501(c)3 status and can accept tax deductible donations.  We have a Board of Directors and we are ready to go.
2. I am going to attempt to coordinate (with good support beside me) at least two classes of Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (www.perspectives.org) in the Las Vegas valley each year with 100 people in them each.  This is a lot of work as each class is a 15-week college level discipleship experience with a different instructor each week speaking on a topic of his or her expertise.  I am also burdened to help Perspectives reach more people...especially college students and young adults and to have more classes here in the U.S. southwest.   50% or more of missionaries currently serving overseas point to Perspectives as THE reason they are there.  That simply astounds me.
3. I would like to help wake up the church in the United States to move beyond simply getting people into seats over the weekend.  Local churches MUST equip people to become multiplying disciples. Our relentless American pursuit of "success" by simply measuring "decisions" has weakened the church and stalled our fulfillment of the great commission of Jesus.  
4. I want to recruit 20 SHARP men or women in the top 20 Metro areas of the United States to do what I am attempting to do and do it under the ministry of the Hastening. 
5. I would like to unite the missional leaders of churches to begin working together.  The American church is quite "silo-ed" in their thinking and practice.  
6. The current worldwide Christian missionary force stands right around 400,000.  That's a decline of 10% in the last ten years.  I would like to work toward moving that figure to 500,000 in the next ten years.  
7. I would like to start taking teams on intermediate level cross-cultural experiences to get their feet wet for this kind of ministry.
8. I would like to, at some point, recruit, train and commission amazing teams of people to go and make multiplying disciples among some of the most unreached, unengaged peoples.
9.  I am going to use my connections and my 30+ years of ministry experience to get the body of Christ re-engaged in God's global purpose.  

How you can help:

1.  Read through our website (www.thehastening.org) to get an idea of what we are doing.  
2. Join our Facebook Group Hastening FB for updates, media, info, etc.
3. Plan to take Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class (www.perspectives.org) in your area as soon as possible.  If you live in Las Vegas, our Fall 2017 class is going to be phenomenal.
4. Pray for me!
5. I have decided that the BEST use of my time and life at this point is to pursue this.  So, this is going to be my livelihood.  In so doing, I am going to need friends, family, churches and others to support me.  You can give to The Hastening through our website, you can click here or you can send a check to The Hastening, 209 S. Stephanie Ave Suite B, Henderson NV  89012
6. Examine your own life and ask if you are living the way you should be living in light of eternity.  Maybe some changes need to take place.  Read the passage from 2 Peter again...maybe memorize it.  You too are commanded to hasten the coming of the day of God.
7. If you are a friend of mine reading this and you have not placed your life into the hands of Jesus, will you PLEASE reach out to me and let me help you find Him.  I couldn't be more serious about anything in my life.  Your eternal destiny depends on it.  

Thanks to the many, many friends that I have had the chance to make in this life.  I love you dearly.  I look forward to telling you what is happening with this venture and how God uses it.  

Bret

Footnote #1 from above-- Jesus said this in Matthew 24:14: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come."  The word nations in that verse is not political countries.  That would be nice although political countries come and go all the time but as of today there are only 196 political countries in the world.   The "nations" that Jesus was talking about are groups of people that self-identify by language, culture, religion, geography, custom, history, or some combination of all the above.  There are about 13,000 of these groups in the world today.  About 5,000 of these groups are considered "unreached" meaning there are not enough Christians in them to effectively evangelize the rest  of their people.  About 1,100 of those 13,000 are considered unengaged, unreached people groups-- no Christians, no Bible, no church, nothing.  That should trouble you if you look forward to the day when there will be a world where Jesus reigns in our sight.