Reaching Critical Mass: A Layman's Earnest Call to Personal Ministry Action

By W. Todd Reynolds

IN JESUS CHRIST. YOUR LIFE HAS TREMENDOUS WORTH. WILL YOU ANSWER HIS CALL TO SERVE?

There is a desperate need in the world for the expansion of individual Christian ministry. In Reaching Critical Mass, author Todd Reynolds illustrates the many ways a Christian, young or old, can serve God upon mankind; gifts that ultimately must be brought into service of the Lord. Through the use of Scripture, learn the stories of some of God’s most faithful servants. From Paul to Rahab to David, the Lord has called many into his service. In Reaching Critical Mass, you, too, will see that you can answer the call.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664264137

W. Todd Reynolds

W. Todd Reynolds is the founder and President of Sonrise New Testament Ministries. Tod has a three-decade-long personal relationship with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Since 1991, Todd has felt a calling to serve Jesus Christ above and beyond his local church. Until Jesus revealed his calling to Todd, he felt led to keep a spiritual record of how Jesus worked in his life. After fifteen years, Jesus Christ’s call in Todd’s life became clear. Todd was led to establish Sonrise New Testament Ministries. Without Todd’s unique life experiences, and the leading of the Holy Spirit, Reaching Critical Mass would not be available today. Todd’s passion for sharing the love of Jesus Christ with the people worldwide in their native languages, and the earnest call for other Christians to join in similar yet diverse ministries as a renewed lifestyle, is his lifelong commitment. www.sonrisenewtestamentministries.com

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Copyright © 2022 W. Todd Reynolds.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case of

brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982

by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6412-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6414-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6413-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907560

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/16/2022

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Laws of Critical Mass in the Modern Day

Scientific Realm

Agricultural Realm

Creation Realm

Chapter 2

Sins Impact on Creation

Fall of Mankind

Consequences of Mankind’s Fall

Chapter 3

Redemption From a Sin-Permeated World

Who We Are in Grace

Who We Are Not In Grace

Chapter 4

First Things First

World Religions

Shifts in Modern Day Worldwide Religions

Societal Shifts and Trends in US Faith Demographics

Chapter 5

Biblical Events That Set Our Roles Into Motion

The Great Commission

Stephens’s Stoning

Chapter 6

Our Role in Promoting Spiritual Redemption and Reconciliation

Who Me, Lord?

Chapter 7

Where Do I Start

Salvation/Rededication

Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ

Outfitted with the Full Armor of God

A Genuine Call to Ministry

Chapter 8

Spreading Your Salt and Light into a Lost and Dying World

Stages of Christian Life and Areas of Ministry

Are There Earthly Tools of Guidelines For Starting a Ministry?

Education & Current Careers Leading to Future Ministries

Trade Professions and Ministry Excellence

Personal Hobbies and Ministry Opportunities

Chapter 9

When Satan Comes Calling

Professional Conflict

Health Tragedies

Long Term Health Problems

God’s Wisdom and Plan

Chapter 10

Ministry in a Chaotic World

Chapter 11

Passing God’s Ministry to the Next Generation

Obedience to God

Good virtues

How to choose good leaders (several not just one)

Chapter 12

Maintaining Critical Mass

Prayer

Bible Study

Fellowship with Believers

Conclusion

Bibliography

This book is

dedicated to those Christians and non– Christians who take the opportunity to read this book, to their commitment to either begin a new ministry serv- ing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ or just to make a decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Special thanks go to my wife, Kim, who made sure I kept a humble balance between career, family life and writing. My sons, Tyler and Garrett, are commended for their patience with Dad on those late nights at the computer. I want to thank my parents, Willie Ray and Lynda, for introducing me to Jesus Christ and raising me by the standards of God’s Word. Thanks goes out to my extended family for the interest and support they have given me over the last four decades of my life.

Byron Jackson and Chad Schroeder deserve a page of their own thanks for the prayer, belief in, support of, and encouragement of this writing project.

My new friends at Westbow Press have been instru- mental in the opportunity for this rough manuscript blossoming into a book available to the Christian and non–Christian community.

Most of all, I want to humbly thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for bestowing upon me the blessing to communicate the passions of this book to the Christian and non–Christian community. May I be faithful to his call.

FOREWORD

Todd Reynolds is a man with a burden. By his own admission, there was a time when that could not have been said. For a time he pursued the values that the world declares are important. But in the past few years his thinking and his heart have been transformed. He sees life through a different set of eyes and with a new set of priorities.

Far too many people are living for the moment or living for the next thrill. In Reaching Critical Mass we are challenged to live for something far more important. Everything of this world will someday perish. It will pass away. It is time for us to stop living for the things that will not last, and give eternal things the priority of our lives.

While the subject matter of this volume is weighty and serious, it is an enjoyable read. Todd Reynolds writes in a transparent fashion. He writes as a fellow traveler, not as one who has already arrived. This book is written by someone who is still learning, not a condescending expert.

My prayer is that everyone who reads this book will come to share the same burden for eternity that has seized the author’s heart.

—Dr. Bob McCartney, Pastor First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas

INTRODUCTION

Many civilizations have created their own versions of critical mass. In this introduction, I seek to address the U.S. Christian’s version of critical mass. This critical mass is a self–perpetuating, twenty–four–hour–a–day, seven–days–a–week paradigm that leads us to believe that if we are the earliest to rise, first to the office, latest to clock out, play the hardest, and die with the most toys, we will have reached self–actualization. After all, isn’t that what makes us happy in life? This is the concept we are taught in classes such as biology, marketing, and economics.

The culmination of this nurture paradigm has brought us to the current–day state of critical mass. It is as follows:

32256.png Acquire as many degrees of education as possible.

32256.png Create as many storehouses of money as possible.

32256.png Purchase the latest and greatest brand of vehicle.

32256.png Keep up with our neighbors and friends by owning the next level of home.

32256.png Maintain a country club membership with that home.

32256.png Keeping the family entertained with a boat, camper, jet ski, or all three.

32256.png Throw an occasional few dollars into the offering plate or give a couple of dollars to a homeless per- son to placate our conscience.

I am not writing this to judge those who have these possessions. Possessions are a blessing from God. I admit that pursuing that next level was a part of my life. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ encouraged and rewarded hard work and investment. Matthew 24:14–30 finds Jesus telling the parable of the loaned money. It is important to keep in mind that investment is referenced in the Bible six times. The six passages address our time, abilities, resources, and lives to the work of Christ and for others’ needs. In 1 Timothy 5:8, Paul tells us if we do not provide for our families, we are worse than unbelievers. Since 1989, some of the above pursuits were on my agenda. Only two to three years ago, I found myself at an all–time–high body weight of 214 pounds with high blood pressure despite medicine, anxiety, and a transient case of depression. The stress and struggle of juggling it all came home to roost. The critical masses we have achieved in our society are massive heart attacks, strokes, bankruptcies, financial insecurity, divorces, and moral compasses spinning out of control as if they were affected by a magnet. In 1999, the Barna Research Group surveyed 3,854 people in forty–eight states and found that eleven percent were currently divorced and twenty–five percent had been divorced at least one time. Out of the same group, twenty–seven percent of those born–again Christians surveyed have been divorced compared to twenty–four percent from all other groups. In 2005, there were 542,000 bankruptcies. In 2006, there were 83,154 foreclosures. Foreclosures exploded to 168,829 in 2007. We wonder why eighty percent or more of our next generation of Christians falls away from the Christian faith when they leave high school and enter the workplace or hallways of colleges and universities.

Please do not misunderstand my motivations in sharing this information. These statistics are not representative of all Christians in the Unites States. However, the Christian community has a similar trend to our non– Christian counterparts.

I am convinced the future is bright. I am convinced the level of brightness is as great as the level of our obedience to the call of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we need to understand that there is a critical mass that is hurling towards us at a blinding speed, for which eternal possessions are all that ultimately matter. It is the critical mass of the return of God to establish his kingdom on earth. Our understanding of this critical mass comes from the original law of creation, the law of sin that permeated this world, redemption from that sin, our role in promoting reconciliation, and a biblical event that put our role into motion. One underlying principle is the catalyst upon which this critical mass exists. The principle is: Dying to oneself in our perishable state, in order to, produce more things in the imperishable state.

Whether you are a Christian or the title of this book made you curious, I invite you to partner with me in exploring how we can shift our paradigm from a state of perishable to the state of the imperishable. After