"Amore Costose"

"The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer"

Jean-Leon Gerome 1883

"Amore Costose"

Could we die for the cause of Christ?  Could we be crucified upside down, be boiled in oil, have our heads severed from our bodies?  The Christian Martyrs did.  What makes a missionary travel to a foreign country, live in squalor at times, risk his life among vicious tribes in some places, give up his freedom, expose himself to disease, and coexist with a people he does not know?  Why would one lay hands on the map of the world and weep for people he will never see, or groan over a globe of scattered nations amidst sprawling oceans, or fly the lonely skies to land in a country and hold a stranger in his arms as if he's known them forever.  It's called "evangelism," the reason our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died  ... It's "Costly Love," or in the beautiful Italian language: "Amore Costose." 

"And he said  unto them, Go ye into all

the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

(Mark 16:15)

Brazil, Italy, Africa, and every Nation, kindred and tongue are on the itinerary for PromiseLand Church, and they should be for every Christian alive.  All of us may not be able to go there physically, but we go there on our knees, in our groans, in the realms of the Spirit, in our dreams, in our depth of intercessory calling, through the portals of God's eternal vision  ...  we GO, and we love, and we win, and we serve, and we fulfill, and we pour out, and we practice Amore Costose  ...  for Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Apostle Peter denied the Lord, but he made up for it by being crucified upside down, the manner of his death at his own request, because he said he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as his Lord.  All of the Apostles gave their all and died martyred deaths for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They paved our way with a trail of blood, just as did our Lord Jesus Christ.    

There is a real heaven and hell; there will be a day of reckoning; there will be a Rapture of the Church; a terrible tribulation period IS going to occur; Jesus Christ is coming again; and every soul on earth must deal with these issues  ...  now or later  ... every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!  (Romans 14:11)  The whole world is shaking and trembling, groaning and straining, questioning and quaking, looking and reaching, for what  ... for whom  ... it is time, destiny, and prophecy joining hands as One  ...  and preparing for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three manifestations of THE ONE to come, the Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ!

"But you will receive power when the Holy

Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and

to the ends of the earth."

(Acts 1:8)

What makes one genuinely love a total stranger?  What causes one to want to tell the world about Jesus Christ?  Why does a foreign country tug at one's thoughts and wake him in the wee hours of the morning to pray for its people?  The Holy Ghost, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ!  It is hard, if not almost impossible to truly love the world, without the Spirit of Christ.  When we receive His Spirit and speak in a language we never learned, we are suddenly and beautifully transformed into the image of Love and we have no more an understanding of hate and fear; we become willing to give all for the One who lives within us.  We identify with the Apostles and we have the full meaning of "Costly Love." 

World, we're coming!  Love is not Love unless we give it away!  We're coming Italy, and we'll spend it lavishly on you.  The Lord Jesus Christ paid the cost in full for You:  "Amore Costose!"

Italy - September 15-19

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)