LOVE GIFT

Do you ever wonder what the life of a missionary is like, those who uproot, relocate, learn new cultures and languages, need to adapt from the familiar to the unfamiliar and learn to make it home?  Many of us may think it is romantic, a life filled with adventure and cutting edge Kingdom impact.  We can imagine and dream from our comfortable Lazy Boy, never having to swat mosquitos, scream at snakes, make embarrassing language mistakes or take public transportation.  Missionaries embrace all this and more for their love of God and the people to whom He has called them.  They embrace the challenges and whatever comes along.  One of the things that “comes along” is a return to the States for a year of home assignment, speaking in churches and reporting what God is doing in their area of ministry and thanking us for our involvement.   To us that may sound like a welcome thing.  But it has its challenges.  Being in the States can create a greater financial drain on their day to day expenses than they have income for.  Though the C&MA does a good job providing for them, living in the States during “tour time” can create more expenses than what their paycheck covers.  Consequently we want to bless our missionaries with a love offering, our way of saying “thanks” for investing in us, our way of blessing them so they have more coming in than going out.  Jason, Elissa and Ruth are our missionaries this year.  I want to encourage us to come this Sunday prepared to give them a special monetary gift of love.  You can designate it “Missionary Love Gift” on the white giving envelops.  Thanks in advance for blessing them.

HEAD HUNTERS AND BLOW DARTS

As a kid I loved Mission’s Conferences.  They were wild.  They are pretty tame now.  Years ago we had missionaries from the inner jungles of Africa, or Indonesia, who put all kinds of curios on tables native to the tribes they were ministering to.  Machetes, snake skins, necklaces made out of teeth, coins from their country.  All kinds of cool stuff.  I remember one guy shot darts from a blow gun popping balloons tacked to the pulpit and told stories about headhunters and cannibals.

The exciting thing is that so many of those tribes have been evangelized.  Their hearts have been changed by Jesus.  Love replaced revenge, compassion replaced vindictiveness, harmony and brotherhood replaced treachery and murder.

And we rejoice in all that because these people really needed Jesus.

But things are tamer now.  We don’t hear about the stone age people.  We hear about the city people, the rural people, the rich, the poor.  They’re not as savage, but the condition of their hearts are still the same.  Rebellious, confused, in bondage, lost, hurting, hopeless.  Their needs are just the same.  They need a Savior. 
I praise God for our workers who enter into the hard and challenging areas of today’s world.  We may not see the curios anymore, or have demonstrations of blow guns, but we hear the commitment, the sacrifice, the passion.  Our workers’ heart bleed for the lost and they are investing their lives to bring the hope of Jesus.  

We wrap up Missions Week Sunday.  To our CCC’ers I implore you to be committed in prayer and giving so that our partnership with those serving overseas can accomplish the mission of bringing the gospel to every tribe, tongue and nation.

Get on a missionaries email list so you can receive prayer requests and updates first hand.  Fill out a Faith Promise Card committing to give generously to the Great Commission Fund.  This is our week to keep climbing higher.

NOT READY, BUT PREPARED

This week I was reminded again of the brevity of life.  We buried Scott Middleton, a friend and servant of Jesus.  He was 50 years old and living a full and meaningful life.  We understand and accept when someone who is 90 dies, whose body becomes more prison than pleasure, but 50…?

I have been a pastor for 37 years.  I have done a lot of funerals.  One year I buried a four month old boy who died of SIDS, a four year old boy who died on the operating table, a 17 year old girl who died of brain cancer, a 30 year old lady, a 50 year old man and a 90 year old man.  It was a reminder of how fragile life is.  The Bible says it well, and Christians are not exempt.  Through sin death came into the human race and it is no respecter of age.  My very first funeral in ministry was an 18 year old.  Ron was driving home from school early in his senior year.  He lived on a farm about two miles away.  He lost control of his car on a washboard road and ran into a tree, dying instantly.  Ron came to our Teen Action Center on Friday nights.  At the end of many meetings he and I would sit on the floor, lean against the wall and talk.  He was not a believer but was seriously considering what he heard.  Finally, one night in April, Ron prayed for forgiveness of his sins and received Jesus as His Savior.  In September he was gone.  The youth group went over to his family’s house shortly after the funeral service.  I will never forget what his Dad, Archie said to the kids.  “Ron wasn’t ready to die, but he was prepared.”  Are you?

CLUTTER

I was looking at my garage the other day.  Then I looked at my basement.   I couldn’t believe the stuff that has been piling up over these past two years.  Things had been placed orderly and neatly.   Now shelves designed for car stuff, lawn stuff, kids toys, school memorabilia, books, pictures could all be labeled “miscellaneous”.   What happened?  What happened is what we call “clutter”.  

That word clutter is never used in a positive context.   It is saying we have allowed a lot of stuff to accumulate where it really doesn’t belong.   That’s not saying the stuff isn’t good stuff.  It’s just too much of it.  Everything just starts to crowd out the stuff that should be front and center.  It looks messy after a while whether it’s our home, mind or life.  So we have garage sales, or we take things to Goodwill, or bag them up to give our kids (so they can deal with the clutter.)  

Clutter can happen in our spiritual lives, too.  I have bookmarks in four books.  Two magazines are on my desk waiting to be read.  I’m in three Bible studies, involved in two service ministries, in church for worship, (where I hope I can get my mind and heart focused), administrate and lead the church’s mission and vision, meet with staff, give pastoral care. 

Spiritual busyness can cause clutter.  All good stuff, but maybe too much stuff where I lose sight of what needs to be front and center.   

Did you notice something missing from the above list?  P-R-A-Y-E-R!  And it is never clutter.  It should always be front and center.  So keep that in mind when you take inventory of your spiritual life.  Has a lot of good stuff crowded out the best stuff?  Does prayer have its rightful place?  Make sure no “clutter” chokes it out or covers it up.

Lord, keep teaching us to pray!   

PUZZLES

I am one of those people who like puzzles, especially Sudokus and crossword puzzles.  There is something about solving a puzzle, especially a tough one, that gives a deep inner sense of satisfaction, a kind of Mt. Everest experience.   As I got into my grade school years, my Mom and Dad would buy me one new puzzle each Christmas that they thought would tax my brain and my perseverance.  There were Christmases where I hunkered down with my puzzle and hardly ate or made a peep for hours, even staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning to solve that critter.  My wife, Mary Ann picked up on that.  During our married years she would get me a puzzle from time to time.  The one that drove me to the brink of brain exhaustion was the Rubik’s cube.  She would see me working that cube, trying all kinds of moves to align the colors.   She would even whisper to me after hearing yet another sign of frustration, “I have the solution.”  

Life in some ways is like a puzzle.  We do our best to put the pieces together, seeking to put the right things in the right place and enjoy the satisfaction of the result.  Our response in life, much like mine to Mary Ann is, “I can do this.  I don’t need help.”   So we grit our teeth, stiffen our resolve and press on.  But life is more than a Rubik’s cube.  It is full of major decisions, life changing occurrences, bends in the road.  It can get complex and confusing.  We try and try and try.  Frankly we need help.  When we are ready to surrender Jesus is there to whisper in your ear, “I have the solution”.  Take Him up on it.  

GROWING UP TOO FAST?

“They’re growing up too fast!”  Every parent or grandparent has expressed those words.  I got off the phone the other day after talking with my daughter.  Since I’ve last seen my grandboys, Luke and Sam, they are starting to walk and to climb on everything they can get a good grip and foothold on.  They are moving into full fledged boyhood.   I remember when our children were small, Mary would often say, “I wish I could keep them this age forever.”    But if you could do that, you realize you would be keeping them from the fullest life for which they were created.   As we live we want to develop to the next steps.  We want to learn to drive a car, pursue a career, marry, see the world, take big risks, experience adventure, and keep pushing further into the opportunities of life.

It is obvious from the Word that our heavenly Father never says of us who are Christians, “I wish I could keep them small forever.”  He wants us to reach our full maturity and pursue life in His kingdom with the same “want to” that we do in our physical world.  Unfortunately there are many Christians who cease developing, almost as if they are saying, “I want to remain at this age forever,” and rather than continue the hard work of developing to maturity, seem content to remain dependent tykes or adolescents.

None of us want to thwart our full potential.  If we are not there yet spiritually, lets kick into gear again. 

BUILDING MATERIALS

Milestones are always fun to celebrate.  This past Sunday Centerville Community Church embraced 35 years of existence with a great anniversary service and picnic.  During the service a number of people spoke emphasizing how the church has ministered to them.  For 3½ decades people have been this church.  We understand from the Bible that the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, but for 2000 years now the followers of Christ have been building on that foundation.  Foundation speaks of buildings and I Corinthians 3 speaks about the construction materials that can make up each generational level.  There is gold, silver and precious gems, or there is wood, hay and stubble.  The previous generation of CCC people have done an amazing job of building the church strong.   They have shown us by their sacrifice, love, commitment and effectiveness the gold, silver and precious gems of their generational level.  Let’s keep honoring our Lord and those who have gone before in continuing the construction with the materials worthy of Christ so that the future generation will have our example on which to build.