Missional Living

My palms were sweating, my knees were shaking and my throat was drying up. I was terrified! I hid my hands under the table so that everyone would not notice my nervousness. This is NOT the place to do this, I said to God and to myself. Nobody wants me to talk about this now! Why was I so worked up? What was making my hands sweat and my knees shake? The answer can be summoned up in two words... missional living.

Missional living can be defined as living your life in such a way that you take every opportunity God brings your way, in order to form relationships and share your faith with individuals who do not know Jesus Christ.

I did not coin the term "missional living" nor would I have even begun to think like this if it had not been for my professor at Seminary. Let me start at the beginning. This semester I am enrolled in an Evangelism class at Seminary. My professor is teaching me to not just be concerned about sharing my faith one day a week but rather that I live missionally, meaning, that I take every opportunity, no matter where I am to engage people with the message and hope of the Gospel.

This is why on Saturday night I found myself sitting at a table in Longhorn Steakhouse, with my palms sweating, my knees shaking and my throat drying up. Before leaving the house that night I had told Julia that we were going to begin living missionally and we were going to do this by asking our waiter how we could pray for him or her. I figured our waiter would be a high school teenie boper and this would be a piece of cake, however, God had different plans. Our waiter was not a tiny high school girl but rather a grown man with earrings and bulging biceps, (at least that's what I thought he looked like), needless to say I was intimidated. The first time he came by the table we made small talk, but I remained silent about the Gospel. When he took our order, I again remained silent about the Gospel. I told myself and God that I would ask him as soon as he brought out the food. I began to motivate myself and prepare myself to ask him "THE QUESTION!" However, our waiter was not the one to bring us out our food and I was bummed.

I thought O, NO! I've missed my chance. Julia and I said grace a little discouraged, however, after saying amen...our waiter came back to fill up our waters, I thought now is the time. The waiter asked us if we needed anything else, and I told him, yes, is there anything that you would like us to pray for? He was floored. He stammered and stuttered. He had never been asked this question before. No one had ever cared enough to pray for this man. Eventually he began to share with Julia and I about his struggle to make rent every month and how he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to pay the bills for the month of January. After he told us his story, Julia and I took the time to pray for him and encourage him.

Julia and I left the restaurant that night, encouraged. We had planted a seed! Who knows what God is going to do in the life of our waiter. My professor says, "Every conversation is a ministry opportunity."  Remember, as you are out doing your thing, living your life, stop. Look. Listen. You may have just a few minutes to advance God's movement in this world, to start a conversation that could lead to eternal change.

Never see going to a restaurant or going to the mall, or even going to work as just a routine. See it as a chance to touch one life for Christ.  Stop and look.

The Gospel Challenge

“If I have observed anything by experience, it is this: a man may take the measure of his growth and decay in grace according to his thoughts and meditations upon the person of Christ, and the glory of Christ’s Kingdom, and of His love.” - John Owen

Last week, I asked my friends to describe the Gospel in one sentence, not a paragraph or multiple sentences but just one. Below are there observations about the Gospel.

• The Gospel is the good news that God sent His only son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and raised Him from the dead to conquer sin and give us hope for eternity with Him if we only accept Him as our Lord and savior.-Gwen Rutheford.

• The gospel is the good news that God's grace allows us to accept the free gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, which allows a perfect, just God, to be in community with the children he created and loves.-Jordan Doty

• Father, Son & Holy Ghost became human, took our rightful place of judgement on the cross of Calvary and redeemed us by setting us free so that we can once again partake of that sweet fellowship we once had before sin came into the earth! (long sentence) Kaleb's mom

• "The Gospel is found in 1st Corinthians 15:1-9, and it's benefits are appropriated by faith."-Brian Owen

• The Gospel is the hope and joy of having Jesus Christ come from the outside to give meaning, purpose, and value to man in his depraved closed system and to reconcile the relationship that man broke away from.-Max Andrews

• The Gospel is the good news that God has made the way of salvation for damned sinners like me who deserve Hell to instead receive, by faith, forgiveness and freedom and adoption through the substutionary death of His Victorious Son Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and will one day return to judge humanity-Jeff Hill

• The Gospel is God showing His love to His children who, having turned away from Him, cannot save themselves but rely fully on Jesus Christ who was sent to all people offering freely, to anyone who believes, the gift of Salvation, which is eternal life with Christ Jesus and freedom from eternal Death.-Katelyn Hill

• The Gospel is God reconciling man to God, not based on any merit or worth, but by grace through faith in Christ's selfless work on the cross, where he took upon himself our sin, shame, and guilt, and in turn gave his righteousness, declaring all that trust in him as God, Savior, and Lord as innocent before the judgment seat of God.-Sean Redmond.

• The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God died for our sins, rose again eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that those who trust in Him will no longer be slaves to sin but receive adoption as sons and daughters of God.-T. Welch 

If you would like to attempt the "Gospel Challenge" submit your sentence below this post.

Abortion is murder!

Saturday, January 22, 2011 marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. According to the Southern Baptist Convention 47 million babies have been aborted since the legalization of abortion with Roe v. Wade. In honor of the courts historical verdict this post is pulled from "Why Pro-Life?" by Randy Alcorn, and will show what goes on in the womb during the early stages of pregnancy.

5-9 days: The new person burrows into the womb's wall for safety and nourishment. Already his or her gender can be determined by scientific means.

14 days: The child produces a hormone that suppresses the mother's menstrual period. It will be two more weeks before clearly human features are discernible, and three more before they're obvious. Still, he/she is a full fledge member of the human race.
18 days: The heart is forming and the eyes start to develop.
21 days: Heart is pumping blood throughout the body.
28 days: The baby has budding arms and legs.
30 days: The baby has a brain and has multiplied in size ten thousand times.
35 days: The babies mouth, ears, and nose are taking shape.
40 days: Preborn child's brain waves can be recorded and the babies heartbeat, which began three weeks earlier, can already be detected by an ultrasonic stethoscope.
42 days: The babies skelton is formed and the brain is controlling the movement of muscles and organs.

No matter how he or she looks, a child is a child. And, always, abortion terminates that child's life. The earliest means to cause abortion terminates that child's life. The earliest means to cause abortion, including Mifepristone (RU-486) and all abortion pills, are too late to avoid taking a life.

8 weeks: The hands and feet are perfectly formed.
9 weeks: The child will bend fingers around an object placed in the palm. Fingernails are forming and the child is sucking his thumb. The nine-week baby has already perfected a somersault, backflip, and scissor kick. The unborn responds to stimulus and may already be capable of feeling pain. Yet abortions on children at this stage are called "early abortions".

10 weeks: Child squints, swallows, and frowns.
11 weeks: He urinates, makes a wide variety of facial expressions, and even smiles.
12 weeks: The child is kicking, turning his feet, curling and fanning his toes, making a fist, moving thumbs, bending wrists, and opening his mouth.

All this happens within the first trimester, the first three month of life. In the remaining six months in the womb nothing new develops or begins functioning. The fully intact child ONLY grows and matures-unless her life is lost by miscarriage or taken through abortion. It's an indisputable scientific fact that each and every surgical abortion stops a beating heart and stops already measurable brain waves. What do we call it when a person no longer has a heartbeat or brain waves? Death. What should we call it when there is a heartbeat and there are brain waves? Life. Every abortion ends a human life. Abortion is murder.

-Information taken from "Why pro life?" by Randy Alcorn, pages 28-30.

One Sentence

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God died for our sins, rose again eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that those who trust in Him will no longer be slaves to sin but receive adoption as sons and daughters of God.

Time is Short

I once had the distinct pleasure of meeting a missionary who believes that in every generation God raises up enough believers to fulfill the great commission. Johnnie Moore has been quoted as saying that the great commission can be fulfilled in our lifetime.

If this is going to happen, men and women will have to step up who are committed not to a radical lifestyle, but to a biblical one. Men and women who are more committed to Jesus Christ and the spreading of His glory; than to family, friends, or the “American Lie”. Men and women who forsake their life here in America, travel overseas, and obtain a great reward. “Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:29-31). See also Luke 18:29-30, Luke 12:8-9, and Mark 8:34-38. America has been reached! America has been reached! We do not need another church planted in America! (I know this comes as a shock to some people.) What we need is for the gospel to be brought to the far reaches of the world. The Gospel needs to travel to places where individuals die and go to Hell everyday, not because they reject the message but because they have no opportunity to hear the message.

“If an individual is not witnessing, ministering, or serving in some capacity to share the name of Christ, than he/she is not saved.” T. Welch

How much do you love me?

When Julia and I were dating we used to play a silly game in which she would ask me how much I loved her. After the question was asked it was my job to come up with an answer which would both dazzle and amaze her. For example one night she asked, "How much do you you love me" to which I responded, "I love you more than all the grains of sand on all of the beaches in the world." Once she asked, "How much do you love me" to which I responded, "I love you more than a fat kid loves cake." (I know, I'm quite a romantic). We played this game all throughout our courtship, engagement, and even now we play it as a married couple. The game is fun because it helps me to express my love for my wife in new and exciting ways.

Today, I have been thinking a lot about love. My love for my wife and in turn God's love for me. I imagined today about the possibility of playing the "How much do you love me" game with God. I believe the conversation would go something like this. I would ask, "God, how much do you love me?" To which God would look at me and say, "I love you so much that I crushed my Son under the full fury of my righteous wrath for you. In the Garden of Gethsemane, my Son cried out for this bitter cup to pass from him. And I remained silent. Why? Because I love you that much. And when my Son uttered that shriek on the cross, unlike any other protest in all of history, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I again remained silent. Why? To convince you that I love you. Behold the supreme demonstration of my love-the cross-the death of my Son. What more can I say? What else do you require to be convinced of my love for you?"

Remember, wherever you are, whatever your circumstance God loves you. Today, ponder this truth-it was the Father's love-his love for sinners who richly deserved his righteous wrath-that moved Him to sacrifice His only Son as our substitute.