The Church is to be salt and light in the world today.  (I've read that somewhere!)  There is such need for us to really be what we were created to be so that Jesus is glorified to the max.

• Starvation claims 24,000 lives per day!
• Lack of clean water claims almost 6,000 lives per day!
• Abortion claims an estimated 115,000 lives per day worldwide!
• There are estimated to be 143 million orphans worldwide!
• There are approximately 27 million slaves today, most of these are in sex slavery and about 50% are children!
• More than 1.5 Billion (not million) people have almost no access to the Gospel of Jesus!

It seems we are often committed to visions and goals that are small and very limited in scope - not the kind that are for the maximum Glory of Christ.  So, what ARE we doing?  Or not!!??

A few comments and quotes from the book, You Don't Have to Cross the Ocean to Reach the World by David Boyd.

We are not training for cross cultural ministry in our churches if we persist in being so mono-cultural on Sunday morning and in all of our “church” experience.  We must be intentional about this or it will continue to be slow happening.

"If we really wanted to obey the Great Commission, we would build multicultural churches in which cross-cultural communication would happen naturally.  …God expects every believer to be involved and has made cross-cultural discipleship available and attainable to all."  (page 106) 

Here Boyd is speaking of the fact that in so many of our cities, and even smaller towns, there is much opportunity to build multicultural churches.  (This is besides the obvious black-white mix that has been slow coming.)  His contention is that if our churches were more intentionally multicultural then the church in general would be better prepared to share the Gospel in any cross-cultural setting.  This also would prepare those from other cultures to share the Gospel with their own culture, which is the most natural way for the Gospel to spread.  WOW!! 

There are encouraging signs for change in some areas and in some churches.  Most of us are still caught in the “this is the way we’ve always done it” or “that’s just not comfortable for me” traps.  Consider the oft used question: “What would Jesus do?”

Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat

based on Ps. 32:5-7 

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,

Where Jesus answers prayer;

There humbly fall before His feet,

 For none can perish there.

Thy promise is my only plea,

 With this I venture nigh;

Thou callest burdened souls to Thee

And such, 0 Lord, am I.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,

 By Satan sorely pressed,

By wars without and fears within,

 I come to Thee for rest.

Be-Thou my shield and hiding place,

That, sheltered near Thy side,

I may my fierce accuser face,

And tell him Thou hast died!

o wondrous love! To bleed and die,

 To bear the cross and shame,

That guilty sinner, such as I,

Might plead Thy gracious name!

--- John Newton

Whatever Satan brings our way we are assured of victory in HIM.  We are also assured that He will always be “with us”!

Run to the Battle!!

Danny

“Search out earth’s places where the temperatures are most unbearable, diseases are most deadly, poverty is most desperate, peace is most elusive, and life is most inconvenient.  There!  You have found the greatest concentrations of people who are still waiting to be reached with the good news of Jesus.  Of course it’s hard.  If it were easy, it would have been done by now! REACHING THE UNREACHED IS HARD!”

This quote from a missions magazine is so true.  Judy and I have a passion to reach these unreached peoples of the world.  So much of what we do in our ministry revolves around this passion.  That is the BIG picture.  There are also “hard” times in our everyday lives – finances, relationships, sickness, and aggravations.  Some of these are relatively small, some much bigger.  We want to live out the truth and really “… know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”  (Romans 8:28).  We want to be faithful and full of faith through it all, but it’s still hard.  One of the simple truths I am drawn back to during the hard times is the two word phrase, “But God”.   (I must keep it simple!)

Some of my Favorite “But Gods”

Eph 2:4 –  ^“But God, being  rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us…”  – Wow I need to know the truth of His LOVE!

1 Cor 10:13 – “…but God is faithful…” – I need to always KNOW that, even in times when I’m not very faithful!

1 Cor 3:6-7 – “…but God gave the increase…” – He brings about the fruit from our work and ministry, NOT us.

1 Cor 1:27 – “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;” – I can relate to that very well!!  Many times I feel very weak and very foolish!

Rom 5:8 – “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – He gave His Son who died for me - salvation!  WOW!

Acts 13:30 – “But God raised him from the dead,” – There is victory in Him!

I believe these are some good reminders for all of us.  This is a New Year!  Some of us have new challenges!  In every day and every situation we face from the Macro to the Micro there are always the “But Gods”!

“… I feel mission has become an event in the western church, rather than the center of what we should be doing as believers."

The comment above is from a colleague working in SE Asia.   I tend to agree.   After 2000 years since Jesus was born in Bethlehem, walked among us and died on the cross for all our sin, we still don’t get it.   He didn’t come as our cosmic bellhop to make our lives more comfortable, but so His Name would be glorified among the “nations (ethne)”.   Mission is not something we can “do” once or even more often and then say “been there and done that”.  It’s not a good deed we can check off our list.  Mission is to be at the very core of who we are and what we do as believers and the Church as a whole.  The task he left us in Matthew 24:14 is very doable but we must get our hearts and our priorities in line with His.

In John 10 Jesus is seen as the Good Shepherd.  He says speaking of us as His sheep, “I am come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  He goes on to say “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen…”  Jesus was and is always looking for those “lost sheep”.    Let’s keep reminded of Jesus’ Mission during this Christmas Season!

CONSIDER:  We Americans (you and me) are about to collectively spend $450 billion on Christmas gifts, trees, fruitcake, certificates, etc.  Whereas only $10 billion a year would completely end the world water crisis.   (More than a billion people do not have access to this basic resource. The lack of safe water affects one-sixth of the world's population)  WOW!!

My post today is very simple.  It's a quote that I believe is very true and influences my life!

"The church is only the church when it exists for others" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Judy and I are blessed to have seven (7) grandchildren as of September 1.  A couple of them are ours by marriage but we claim them all and are very proud of them and their parents.  As a friend pointed out, when we have grandchildren that makes us - "grand" parents. :-) 

We pray daily that the Lord would be honored and glorified through the lives of our kids and our grands.  One phrase from Romans 1:1-6 stands out to me.  It's from the later part of verse five and says, "...for the sake of his name among all the nations..."  

It's a priviledge to be grandparents (and parents)!!

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Have I taken down the "Do Not Disturb" sign from my heart?

I was inspired today by a song lyric.  I don’t remember the lyrics exactly and don’t remember the name of the song or the artist.  The thought that struck me is “I want it all, but then don’t know what to do with it when I get it.”  That is my thought quote, not the song quote.  I thought how often I have been like that in life – wanting something and then not using what I get or not knowing what to do with it. 

Many of us want a million dollars but what would we do with it?  Would we have any of it left in a year, five years, ten years?  Lottery winners show us that many waste it and wind up just as broke!

Many of us may want that “best” job, but then how would we handle it if we did get it?  Would we handle the stress or get canned because we can’t do that “dream” job?

Some have wanted the “best” house and now are loosing them in foreclosures. 

We could go on and on with this – wanting the best of this or that.  How about if we are truly thankful for what we do have?  What a novel idea!  Actually it’s not novel.  I think I read something, somewhere about this.[1]  You’ve probably read it too! 

Also the reality is that if we look around we will see those that should make us thankful: 

What about the men and women coming back from war without limbs, or eyes or - without life? 

What about those in most of the rest of the world that don’t have the luxury of choosing the “best” food because they don’t have any food at all?  (The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Over 4 million will die this year. Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger.) 

What about those that don’t get to choose the “best” university because they have no education choices at all?  (UNESCO reports that in 2008 there are 75 million children out of school.)

Wouldn’t it, usually at least, be better or more responsible if we use what we have to the maximum rather than wanting what we don’t have.  Of course, we must be doing all for the Glory of God.[2]

Oh God!  My I be faithful in what You have given me to do and with what you’ve given me.  Forgive me for my lack of thankfulness!  Impress upon me the part I have to play in your plan and may it all be for your Eternal Honor and Glory!

[1] Colossians 3: 15-16 (ESV) - 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Hebrews 12:28-29a (The Message) Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God…

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:30-32 (ESV) If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God…

Mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. "It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the church."  

Jurgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit: A Contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology, London: SCM Press, 1977, 64