Category Archives: Manna For Your Day – Pastor Dan Reed

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Soulwinning Power – By Pastor Dan Reed | Manna For Your Day

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Dr. Dan Reed was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1951. He was saved at the Woodland Avenue Baptist Church in 1973 while studying engineering at Auburn University. Sensing the call to preach in 1973 he enrolled at Tennessee Temple College under the ministry of Dr. Lee Roberson. Finishing his B.A. in December of 1975 he was called to Emden, Missouri , a town of 61, to pastor the Community Baptist Church. Pastor Reed has started two churches and two Christian schools during his 33-year ministry. He is currently the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church of Acworth, Georgia. (Learn more about Dr. Reed HERE)

SOULWINNING POWER

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-4, Acts 4:31, Ephesians 5:18

Text: Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;  but be filled with the Spirit.”

In Acts 2 the entire 120 in the upper room were waiting on God in prayer for “the promise of the Father.”(Luke 24:49) When the day of Pentecost was come, the Scripture tells us they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they left that place to preach with boldness and win 3000 souls to Christ. Later in Acts 4 it happened again that “they prayed…and were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness.” The church grew by leaps and bounds because the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly used God’s Word with power to win people to Christ. Later, Paul commanded everybody in the churches to “be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Great soulwinners have always been men and women who believed in the power and unction of the Holy Spirit. There are those who say that the filling of the Holy Spirit is just being yielded to do what He says. But the Scripture teaches plainly that we are to plead and cry for the Holy Spirit’s fullness so that we can win souls. In Luke 11 Jesus tells the story of the importunate man going to his friend at midnight because someone has come to him in need of food. Jesus says that the man would not rise and give him bread because he was his friend, but because he kept pleading, he got up and gave him what he needed. Then Jesus said, “If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Did you notice that He said we must ask Him for the Holy Spirit?.

My first church was in a little town called Emden, Missouri. It was just a crossroads with a population of 61! The nearest town was 10 miles away and it only had 1000 people. It was a farming community and houses were far apart. When God led me there I was 24 and new at pastoring and I made a whole lot of mistakes. But I had read Dr. Rice’s book on the Power of Pentecost and His book on soulwinning which taught that winning souls was a matter of having God’s power and that in order to have His power, you must pray and plead for it. So, I would go out behind the church on Saturday nights, look up into the sky and beg God to fill me with His Holy Spirit. Many, many nights found me walking back and forth across the pasture quoting Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing on thine offspring.” I was young, a little brash in my preaching, but oh, how God blessed that year that I was there with over 70 public professions of faith and many  baptisms.

Maybe the reason we do not win souls much is that we don’t do what Jesus said about praying and begging God for His power! The fullness of the Holy Spirit is given us primarily to win souls and we must have an earnest, heartfelt desire to do it in order for God to fill us! In fact, Acts 5:32 says that He only gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. Why should He fill you if you are not willing to obey Him, first by continually begging Him for that fullness and then by witnessing to those around you?

Questions to Ponder

1. Do you have seasons of prayer where you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit to help you win souls?

2. Do you have regular times to go soulwinning? No one is a consistent soulwinner who does not go soulwinning consistently.”

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Leaving Nothing Undone – By Pastor Dan Reed | Manna For Your Day

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Dr. Dan Reed was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1951. He was saved at the Woodland Avenue Baptist Church in 1973 while studying engineering at Auburn University. Sensing the call to preach in 1973 he enrolled at Tennessee Temple College under the ministry of Dr. Lee Roberson. Finishing his B.A. in December of 1975 he was called to Emden, Missouri , a town of 61, to pastor the Community Baptist Church. Pastor Reed has started two churches and two Christian schools during his 33-year ministry. He is currently the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church of Acworth, Georgia. (Learn more about Dr. Reed HERE)

JOSHUA LEFT NOTHING UNDONE

Scripture Reading: Joshua 11:9-15, Matthew 23:23

Text: Joshua 11:15 “As the Lord commanded Moses His servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.”

I have so many things I want to do in my life. There are many books I would like to read and many places I would like to go. But life is very short and I can see that I am not going to get done all I want to do. However, that should not be my major concern. My major concern must not be to do all I want to do, but not to leave undone what I am supposed to do! Joshua “left nothing undone” of all He was commanded. Jesus told the meticulous Pharisees, “these ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone.” He was speaking of their rotten attitudes and dispositions and said they had left out of their duties “judgment, mercy, and faith,” these are necessary things, but He added, they must not leave “undone” the other important matters of the law.

The quality that makes a great Christian is not so much what you do, but what you leave undone. You may do ten thousand things today, but what will you leave undone? If you go to work, get all your work done, speak kindly to people, come home and work in your yard and fix up your house and read the newspaper, you have done a lot; but you have left undone your time with God, your meditation on the Word, your soulwinning duties. If on Sunday morning you awake and spend three or four hours painting your house you have gotten much done, but you have left undone what God commanded which is to “not forsake the assembling of yourselves together” at the Lord’s house. If you treat people nicely this week, love and do for the needy, care for your family and friends, give to several some good things; but if you leave undone and unpaid your tithes, you are not a good Christian! Joshua is commended in our text not because of what he did but because he “left nothing undone of all that Moses commanded him!” The first things on our agenda must be to do what God says in His Word! If we have time for a game of tennis or golf, fine. If I have time to go sightseeing and take a vacation, fine.

People say to me sometimes, “Why don’t we do this or that at our church, have this activity or that?” None of those things may be wrong, but if you don’t go soulwinning and you can find time for many other matters, you are a disobedient Christian. It has been my experience that people will make time to do the big things in their life. If golf or softball or fishing is a big thing,  they will make time to do it, even at the expense of church services or Bible study or soulwinning. Therefore, the big things in our life should be personal Bible study, the services at our church, and soulwinning times. If the little things, the not so important things, like softball, golf, fishing, tennis, yard work, etc. can be done without “leaving the other undone” then have at it!

If you and I desire to be good Christians like Joshua, we must not only examine what all we do, we must examine what we leave undone.

Questions to Ponder

1. List four or five things you believe the Bible commands you to do each week that you should never leave undone.

2. What excuses do you use to miss church or soulwinning? We make excuses to do what we really want to do!

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Being A Useful Servant By Pastor Dan Reed | Manna For Your Day

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Dr. Dan Reed was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1951. He was saved at the Woodland Avenue Baptist Church in 1973 while studying engineering at Auburn University. Sensing the call to preach in 1973 he enrolled at Tennessee Temple College under the ministry of Dr. Lee Roberson. Finishing his B.A. in December of 1975 he was called to Emden, Missouri , a town of 61, to pastor the Community Baptist Church. Pastor Reed has started two churches and two Christian schools during his 33-year ministry. He is currently the pastor of Harvest Baptist Church of Acworth, Georgia. (Learn more about Dr. Reed HERE)

ON BEING A USEFUL SERVANT

Scripture Reading: II Tim. 2:20-26

Text: II Tim. 2:21″If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, and meet for the Master’s use.”

Paul is writing to the young pastor, Timothy, telling him in this passage how to be  “Meet for the Master’s use.” In other words he is telling Timothy how to become useful. Really we should not ask to be used, we should ask the Lord to make us useful. If we become a willing and fit vessel, then God will use us. He gives Timothy here some key qualities to make us useful.

I. Purity- 2:22 “Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

He gives here 5 characteristics of a pure heart. Fleeing from our own lusts, following the path of right living, growing our faith, pure and discerning love, and a desire for peace and harmony are characteristics of having a single minded eye in service, not for our own glory but God’s! Paul tells Timothy, “Make sure you get in the right preacher’s fellowship, stay around men who have a pure heart!” Purity is a necessity if God is to use any of us.

II. Discernment- 2:23 “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.”

Discernment is the ability to distinguish the truth from error and half-truth. To be useful we must know what we must stand for and what we must not argue over. We can lose our usefulness by being too picky or too lenient. Bob Jones Sr. used to say that balance is the toughest thing about the Christian life. Sometimes we lose our ability to help some people because we are not discerning enough to know what we can look over and what we must contend for!

III. Gentleness- 2:24 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient.”

Gentleness is godly strength. If a man breaks his ankle and lady tries to lift him up, she cannot be gentle because she does not have the strength. But if a lady or child breaks their ankle and a strong man picks them up, they can be very gentle and yet get the job done. David said of God, “Thy gentleness hath made be great.” To be able to be gentle with those we are trying to help makes us useful to a greater number of people. Yes, perhaps some people will respond to intimidation techniques, but whether they do or not does not make them right. I believe the opposite of gentleness is intimidation. Some leaders who cannot convince by using the Word of God and loving gentleness, use intimidation techniques. This is not a quality of a servant of the Lord!

IV. Meekness- 2:25 “In meekness…”  Meekness is “power under control.” It is losing your rights. The Psalmist said, “The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way.” If I would be useful, I must develop this attribute which both Jesus and Paul and Moses were said to have which makes me “teachable”. I must let God work through me in His way not force my will on others.

V. Prayerfulness- 2:25,26 “Instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth…” Only God can really change people. I must constantly depend on His power as I preach and teach and go soulwinning..” I desire to be used, O Lord, make me useful!”

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