Broken world moving closer to home now
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___SAN ANTONIO--Baptists will not have a broken heart for a broken world "until we relate to the world in the same manner that God relates to the world," said Jimmy Draper, echoing the theme of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Evangelism Conference.
___Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, noted the changing religious makeup of the United States as people from other lands and other faiths make up a growing 
percentage of the population. "We're seeing this broken world up real close in America," he said.
___Speaking from Exodus 3, Draper identified six things revealed about how God relates to the world:
___
God sees. "God sees us. God watches us. God observes us," Draper said. "Evangelism rooted in the nature of God ... sees the affliction of his people," and it sees each person as an individual.
___ God hears. God heard the cries of his people in the Exodus. Today, "prayer is communicating with the Father who cares for us."
___ God feels. "God feels our pain," Draper said, noting the Bible says Jesus was moved with compassion. "Jesus felt deeply for common people. ... We've got to learn again to feel the pain of people around us."
___ God delivers. "He comes to deliver us," Draper said, explaining that God didn't send a committee but his Son. "He delivers us from bondage ... to a land flowing with milk and honey."
___ God sends. "Evangelism is being there, God sending us to be there," Draper said. "God is the God of the Exodus. ... He sends us, and we must go."
___ God empowers. "Whomever God calls, he equips. ... God is going to send you, but he's going to go with you.
___"Evangelism," Draper concluded, "is God's mission, and that mission is God's mighty river. We don't carry the river, the river carries us. ... It is God's great mission river that carries us along the course."
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