When it is snowing
outside and I make it to my apartment, it is relatively hot.
I do not mean to say that it is pretty hot in my apartment, because
my roommates and I decided to not turn on the heat all winter in
order to save money. What I mean is relative to the snow outside my 40ish
degree apartment is hot. This is a obvious statement but it can
be lost in translation when applied to spiritual matters. I can
seem relatively hot and on fire for God when surrounded by new and
not-yet-Christians, even if I am experiencing a low in my walk with the
lord.
This can be a dangerous
reality feeding into a "Pharisee" type of mind set or cynical
feelings towards others. That is why it is really great to challenge
yourself by having deep conversations with the strong Christians that you know.
Obviously, the righteous road is narrow, so trapping yourself in a
Christian bubble will not give you the freedom to live out the Great Commission
Jesus gave in Matthew 28, to make disciples, so it is also important to share
your faith with those who do not already know Jesus. However, the
witnessing aspect of the training weekend can be a blog for another time
provided it is a "Luke 10" type of situation, not a "Matthew
6," if you catch my draft. This is about the uplifting time I had
bonding with my fellow missionaries in PA.
I believe Mission
training was just a small sample of the great things to come this summer with
World Harvest Missions. The folks running everything set up great
organizational things and the care and planning that went into the logistics of
the whole weekend was clear. Even with all that working for the training
the best part of the weekend was hands down the interactions I had with other
20-some-year-old college students that had a real heart for God. Not only
did they have a spirit for God but they also had willingness to take bold steps
down the adventurous path laid by the hands of the creator of all good things!
Anyone who left the Christian faith out of boredom never understood what
Christ did or what His mission is!
The renewing atmosphere
can hardly be put into words, it was like being in a room filled with die hard
ECU (insert favorite team) fans as they are reminiscing over the previous
night's overtime win. Only instead of fans, we were members, and instead
of reminiscing, we were equipping. Members of the most high God
passionately and excitedly being equipped for His missions He called each one
of us to overseas. We would be joking around about what kind of orange
sour cream looking substance we trustingly were spreading over our bagel, and
then... As if as natural as breathing, Jesus' name would fly across one of our
lips. It would not enter the room with the silence that can proceed the
utterance of the most powerful name in everyday life. No, there was no
amplified heart beats as His name was reverently praised. This time, it
might have been something like how diversely and personally Jesus our savior
works. After adoration was verbalized, the conversation could easily flow
back to the breakfast spread, or it could transform into this deep relevant and
truthful proclamation of Jesus' attributes.
Being surrounded by this
kind of community reminded me of the one I have only read about in Acts.
Granted no one sold property to meet a need of another brother, but I
could see a glimpse of how mustard-seed faith could blossom into a martyr's
dying act of joyful obedience (Acts 7).
The ability to pick any
one of my fellow brothers or sisters in Christ and have an educated discussion
about the Bible, and the drive to apply what we know/learn, was amazing. This
was a wakeup call for me about what being on fire for God feels like. My concluding note is this: do not be quick
to be proud because you are relatively godly. That is like saying that my
apartment is hot because it’s colder outside.
God is leading His people in every cultural to some amazing things! Of course we could take this a step further
and compare my apartment to the sun , there is really no comparison, just like
when our, as humans, good deeds are compared to God’s righteousness.
For those who do not
know, the training I was referring to was preparing me to go to Ireland for two
months on full time missions. More information about my missions can be
found on my last post "Go and make disciples in Ireland."
Got your comment on my post. Send me your Email mail so that I can find out your schedule of your trip to Ireland. My wife and I would love to see you if it is at all possible. It sounds very exciting. Trevor
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