When I think of the immense task God has given His church—to take the "everlasting gospel" to every "nation and kindred and tongue and people"— my first thought is how seemingly impossible. I'm sure it can only happen when accompanied by divine miracles and Holy Spirit power.
My second thought is that fulfilling the Biblical "great commission" will have to include a large component of effective and creative media ministry. As I visualize the picture of angels flying in the midst of heaven, I can almost see cyberspace filled with radio waves and text messaging and podcasting.
The world is characterized by the rapidly accelerating pace of change. The challenge for the church is to encourage and enable those gifted and committed agents of change among us to lead the way in utilizing every available communication tool to its full potential for the glory of God. We must make sure that the old, yet ever new, message of salvation maintains its relevance and maintains a voice in the marketplace of ideas.
The stories we share here from the Upper Columbia Conference are indicative of ministries throughout the Northwest and beyond that are successfully reaching out for Christ. In the end, we must remember people are not transformed by words or books or radio or television or the latest technological invention. They are only changed for eternity by a divine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ; and that encounter must be personal and real.
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