Since the release of the report of the Great Commission Task Force this past week, I’ve been in a number of discussions and read many of the comments which have been posted.  While much has been said about the seven recommendations in the report, I have yet to ready any commentary about the challenges which are found on pages 17-26.  The challenges are significant and address individuals, churches, and our SBC agencies and seminaries.  Here are just a few of the challenges:
Individuals
– Participate in a local church sponsored evangelism training class sometime during 2011 and make this a regular component of the disciples ship process in your life.
– Participate in a North American or international mission trip sponsored by your church or association at least every four years.
Families
– Develop strategies as a family for praying for, serving, and sharing the gospel with neighbors, coworkers, and others with whom family members come into regular contact.
– Adopt a different unreached people group each month and pray as a family for 1) for IMB missionaries working with the people group, 2) for the conversion, baptism and discipling of countless individuals within the people group, and 3) for the establishment of biblical churches among the people group.
Local Churches and Pastors
– Become knowledgeable of the mission field of your specific region, identifying the various people groups and development a strategy to penetrate the lostness in your region.  Be intentional in working with your local association, state convention and NAMB in pursuing this task.
– Strengthen mission education for believers of all ages, working with the Woman’s Missionary Union and other missions education programs. Every believer must be made aware of the global missions challenge.

I encourage you to read the entire report found at: www.pray4gcr.com.  If possible, attend the Southern Baptist Convention meeting, June 15-16, in Orlando where the recommendations to the SBC will be discussed and voted upon.  The seven recommendations have generated much discussion and I will leave those comments to others.  Our own KBC Mission Board has passed a resolution in support of the Cooperative Program and I am absolutely in full support of the resolution and CP.  But I also want Southern Baptists to take note of the challenges in the GCR Task Force report.  Even if none of the Task Force recommendations were passed, if Southern Baptists embraced many of the missions challenges included in the report, we would experience a Great Commission Resurgence!