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Merritt: ‘happy feet’ share the Gospel

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WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)—-Feet have a key role in world missions, former Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt said in a message from Isaiah 52:7 at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

Merritt told the seminarians to look at their feet and be reminded of three things: They have a message to share, a mission to fulfill and a method to use.

“The urgency is still the same [as in Bible days],” said Merritt, pastor of the Atlanta-area Cross Pointe Church in Duluth.

“Doors are open, but they shut so quickly. Opportunities are many, but they end so soon,” he said in his Aug. 22 message at the Wake Forest, N.C., campus. “And what Isaiah’s saying is our feet need to take us where we can go while we can go.”

Calling for “an urgency and a fervency” in taking the Gospel around the world, Merritt said, “God’s eternal clock is ticking, and lives literally hang in the balance, and we need to work as if there is no tomorrow.”

While Christians should take advantage of any means to relay the Gospel to the nations, including the Internet, DVDs, books, CDs, radio broadcasts and other avenues, God will continue to use people in a personal way to spread His Word, Merritt continued.

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“God’s number one method will always still be feet because God uses people to reach people,” he said. “The point is even though God’s message is still the Gospel, and God’s mission is to reach the world, God’s method is still happy feet that share this message, that fulfill this mission and that use this method.”

Merritt closed by saying, “The happiest feet are the feet that belong to people who are telling people about Jesus. We need every foot that’s available to go across the street and around the world to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
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Joy Rancatore is a staff writer at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.