Out of Africa

The senior pastor from my church just got back from Tanzania. Watching some of the videos and listening to his stories reminds me of each time I have left the country and come back. There is something about getting out of your comfort zone and having your beliefs, morals, morays etc...challenged by another culture. We so often take for granted simple things like running water, air conditioning, electricity, windows, cars, a change of clothing, carpet or at least a floor in the church. Have you attended a church with no roof? Worked with people who don't know what a shower is? or deodorant? Preached to people sitting on a dirt floor? You might feel like you are suffering for Jesus as you sleep on a mat on the ground until you realize that the people you are ministering to do the same every day of their lives. If you haven't had the chance to get out of your comfort zone, you can go to Africa or Latin America, or maybe you just need to go across town to help out a church that is ministering in the part of town you don't want your kids going to. Challenge your faith! It will open your eyes in new ways you never expected.

Back from Honduras!

I am back from Honduras! It was a wonderful trip. God is awesome! While there, I and a group from North Greenville University ended up running a youth camp for a region where most of the people are Lenka Indians. Three youth accepted Christ as their savior and some more were baptized. It was truly a blessed week!

Mission Trip

I want to thank you if you check my blog every day! Thanks for being faithful. I hope I don't lose to many readers, but I am heading out in about 8 hours for Honduras and am not sure how often I will be near a computer between now and next Saturday. Pray for me as I, and a bunch of students from North Greenville University are working with a bunch of kids at a kids camp representing 15 churches in the region.

Ad Clicks for Missions

To the right, you notice that I started another blog. What is 5 Point Missions all about? I had a thought today. I love blogging, and I am beginning to understand how the advertising payout works with google adsense. I thought (((What if I create a blog where people can support missions simply by clicking on the ads. I would give 1/2 to missions, and the other part could pay the taxes.))) So that is what that blog is. I plan to write about mission trips. Hopefully people will see this as a way they can help support missions even if they don't have the cash to help out. Just clicking on an ad could send 20cents or even 50cents to missions! Feel free to actually use the services advertised. They are paying for you to actually look at their page when you click through from mine. Thanks for helping out!

Courageous Cowardice

This morning, I was reading about Gideon in the book of Judges. We all know the part about Gideon going out under the power of God and defeating the Midianites. This morning however, the part that really stuck out to me and challenged me was that he cut down the Asherah pole and the altar to Baal that belonged to his father! (Judges 6:25) It is one thing to challenge the world for something when God tells you to. It is quite another to go against ones own father! He did so, following the Lord's command. We see later in verses 30-31 that his father must have loved his son very much even though he had destroyed his altar, for he gave a great short speech to the crowd about Baal not needing the crowd to defend him from Gideon.
I wonder what I would have done in the same situation. As an American, there is such an emphasis on personal property. Destroying someone else's property is so ingrained into us as wrong that even if it is evil, we have trouble destroying it. I am reminded of a man in Springfield, MO who went into an abortion clinic and shot up the machinery and the office. He took no lives, but did damage thousands of dollars in equipment. I think God protected him. He was never apprehended that I know of. Today's blog is just my own thinking out loud. I don't expect anyone to form their theology around it. I do welcome your comments though.

Missions

Churches have different views of what “Missions” means. In its most simple form, it is anything that reaches out to others with a purpose. In Christianity, we reach out to others with the purpose of showing them God’s love and asking them to join us in our journey through life accepting Jesus as their Savior. When Jesus told us to “Go unto all the world” he mentioned Judea, Samaria and the ends or the uttermost parts of the earth. Many preachers have paraphrased that to mean your local community, your state/country, and foreign missions too. I believe that there is order to that. If all our church is doing is sending some money to a missionary in a far off land while never showing God’s love to the grumpy guy who lives right next to the church building, then we have missed the call. Likewise, if we are reaching out to our local community, but never reach beyond it, we have also missed out on what God intended. If your church has never taken part in foreign missions, then I encourage you to do so. I don’t just mean that you send a few dollars to a missionary. Contact a missionary and find out how you can help them on the field. When you take a group of people from your own church and reach out in another area of the world, it will not only help the missionary and the people where you go serve, but it will be a life changing event in the lives of the people on your team! Another side affect is that when people are concerned about those who live in another land, they will begin to see the needs in their own community as well. If your church rarely goes outside the walls of the building you meet in, give missions of any kind a try! I am sure that you will find the effort very worth the return on investment when you see how the people in your own congregation are changed.