![]() First things first, strange and scary are relative terms. With that said, let's begin! I remember when I first started to feel a strong heart tug for overseas missions. I didn’t really want to go and do it. I was quite content with a "normal" life. But I knew God was calling me to it. Therefore, I knew it was only a matter of time before God would win the tug of war battle that I attempted to engage in. When the dust finally settled from the World War 3 that was waging in my heart I received my marching orders: China/North Korea. Immediately upon receiving this call I adamantly objected. I told God I would go anywhere but there. I proceeded to list off other places in the Middle East and Africa and all over the world for alternatives. But the truth in my heart of hearts was that the location wasn’t the issue. I was the issue! I have heard people all my life share about how they were afraid to trust God to lead them because they were legitimately scared as to where God would take them. Basically, this fear/excuse could easily be interpreted as “What if God sends me somewhere I do not want to go?” If this is your objection to following God’s calling then more than likely, then just like me, there is no place on this planet that is a place you want to go. Faith is rarely a comfortable idea to think about. If God called you to a life of luxury on a tropical island somewhere than perhaps you might be more accepting of God’s calling ad take that painful step of faith. But let us assume that is not going to happen. If disrupting the comfort of life for anything short of a short term exotic vacation is your idea of cooperation with God, than I am afraid that you will be sadly disappointed with pretty much anywhere where God needs you to go. Full time missions requires a greater deal faith and commitment compared to a 10 day mission trip to Haiti or whatever. Anyone can survive a trip for 10 days! Don’t get me wrong, Waikiki Beach in Hawaii is certainly filled with people who need Jesus, but don’t be shocked if God does not call you there. But let the truth be told, our natural response to being uprooted to a new place regardless of how amazing it is, will be met with several layers of resistance. But let’s assume that you are willing and ready to leave the comfort of home and family. And you echo the words of young Samuel “Here I am Lord, send me (ANYWHERE!).” Regardless of your faith and sense of adventure, there are some concerns. What if God sends you to a place with no running water? Or huge cockroaches? Or deadly snakes? Or no forks and knives? Or deadly cannibals? Or constant hurricanes and earthquakes? Or highly contagious diseases? Or no English? Or no pizza? Or no toilet paper? Or… or… or… or… the list of questions/fears can be never ending. I think it is all too normal and expected for one to fear the unknown, but the reality is, as a Christ follower we know that living by faith is nothing but UNKNOWNS. Even without Christ in our life we understand that every day is a gift and tomorrow is filled with mystery. It is all too normal for humans to want to minimize risk, mystery and inconvenience. But at the end of the day, we do all those things because just like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we want to be in control. Living a life of faith is the opposite of our human instincts born out of our sin nature of wanting to be in control. Trusting our Creator in theory should be naturally easy, but look through the Bible and history and you see that this practice is anything but easy. In our hearts as Christians we know that God is in control and knows what is best for us and his Kingdom. But our minds, bodies and souls are not always on the same page. I understand why you would be scared that God would send you somewhere you do not want to go. If you are praying about a life of overseas missions but not sure where or what, I would encourage you to do a little exercise. 1). Ask yourself where in the world you would want God to send you. 2). Ask yourself where in the world you would hope God not send you. 3). Ask yourself how you could be used in both places (make a list). 4). Trust God that he knows where and what you need to do regardless if there is a good toilet available or not!
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![]() We all have the disease known as attachment. Some of us have it worse than others. Some people can hide it really well while others wear it loud and clear like an obnoxious Christmas sweater. The reality is simple, the more we have the more we tend to hold on to. Those who have very little are those who cling hard to the little they do have. But as long as you are human, there are things that we are emotionally, mentally and physically welded together with. If someone tried to take something from you that you are attached to, then you are naturally going to resist and put up a fight. This is at the core of our human nature. No one likes to lose things, especially if they feel like they worked really hard to have it. Many people, if not most, when called to overseas missions go through a variety of emotions. The biggest one always is LEAVING HOME! You would think that God calls only those to be missionaries who are super spiritual and have accepted Heaven as their home and who views God’s calling as something far more significant than a few earthly attachments like family, friends, pets, food, careers, cars, houses, routines, Monday Night Football, cable TV, Church, baseball card collection, midnight Taco Bell runs, etc. However, regardless of where one is spiritually, our flesh is a tough shell to crack. I really don’t care how “spiritual” you may THINK we are. Until we reach heaven, it is not going to replace how human we all KNOW we are. As humans, we call this temporary shelter named earth our home. And home represents many things to many people. I grew up in a very mobile family. This means we moved a lot. I never really grew attached to any particular place as a kid. I would argue that we did not have a lot of things growing up that I could be attached to either. However, when God called my parents to the mission field, it was not a major jump for us as it would have been for many others, but it was a jump nevertheless. The comforts of American life were going to be clearly challenged. When we boarded the plane, we did not know if we would ever eat good American food again, watch TV, play sports, enjoy life at all, etc. It was a great mystery for us at that time. All we did know was that we had passports, more than a few bags and boxes, a calling, and hopefully someone to pick us up from the airport on the other end. Leaving home in today’s modern mission’s sense is so much more different than in times past. Technological advancements in transportation and communication has changed the missionary game. Here are a few simple examples of how things have changed: 200 Years ago- A missionary would have to leave home to a faraway land and more than likely never come back. They would immerse themselves in the host culture and become a native in hopes to change lives for Christ. An occasional letter might make it back to family, friends and churches before they would die. 150 Years ago- A missionary would get on a boat and travel to a faraway land, immerse themselves to the culture and probably return home 2 times over their career to raise awareness and support before ultimately dying among the people they came to serve. 100 Years ago- A missionary would travel to a faraway land and send home yearly letters and probably return home every 6 years to raise awareness and support and take care of a variety of family matters. They would possibly retire in their home country. 50 Years ago- A missionary would travel to a faraway land and learn the language of their host nation but return home every 4 years for support and awareness. Letters to friends and family would be written more frequently. The era of the support letter has begun! 25 Years ago- A missionary would travel to a faraway land and perhaps learn the language (at this point, almost 50% of western “missionaries” worldwide no longer aim to immerse into culture or language). Support letters are now on the average of 3-4 a year. Calling home on the phone is a weekly event. And the average for a missionary staying overseas without a home visit is just a shy under 2 years. The average length of a missionary serving overseas for life is now cut by 77%. TODAY- Communication with family and support base can be done daily or hourly (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc.). A faraway land is not so far away. The definition of “missionary” has changed a lot and therefore it is hard to determine the percentage of those who learn culture and language. The average life on the mission field for a career is less than 4 years and dropping. You can interpret these stats any way you want. But at the end of the day, when God calls you to GO, you need to GO! Leaving home is not easy but I do want to say it is a lot easier in some ways today then it was. Be thankful you are in this era and not that of say Hudson Taylor’s. HEBREW 12:1 has never been so true “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Regardless if you are a missionary or not, stop being so attached to things that are just fading away! ![]() For many years I believed that missionaries were a special breed of people that were confined to the trades of evangelism/preaching, building churches or feeding the hungry. The Mother Teresa image was hard to shake in my head. I would later learn that missionaries could also be doctors, farmers, mechanics, aviators, teachers, coaches, businessmen, and pretty much anything my mind could imagine. Basically, God can use anything to further his Kingdom and as I continue to learn and grow I see clearly that he does. When Paul wrote in Romans 8:28 that “All things work together for the good…” All means literally ALL! Obviously, when it comes to missions, different places have different needs. Therefore, they require different types of people to fulfill a specific task or goal. It would be rather boring and complicated if everybody did the same thing. This is why it is important to know who you are before you reach out to help others. When God called me to missions (or overseas ministry), I was a bit surprised because I honestly believed that I wasn’t qualified for anything that involved what I believed to be “missions.” After all, I wasn’t good at preaching, I was kind of shy about the gospel, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a hammer and a screw driver, I really wasn’t into blood or anything medically related and I wasn’t a fan of small kids. I admired the Jim Elliot’s of the world, but I wasn’t exactly prepared to cut my way through the amazon jungle with a machete only to be met with a brutal death by a spear at the hands of a local tribe. I questioned God and asked Him; “What on earth do you want me to do?” And then God revealed to me the plan; SPORTS! "Come on God? Really? Sports? is that even allowed in the church?" Anyone who knows me knows that I am super passionate about sports and have a real heart for athletes in general. But I never dreamed that God would ever use this passion of mine for the mission field. I always thought my passion for sports at best would be a fun community building hobby that might impact people if the right relationships were made. But sports as a mission totally escaped me. However, as excited as I was about the prospect of changing the world through sports, I still needed a while to figure out how exactly that was going to transpire. As I grew and as I am still growing, I have been able to travel around the world and inspire kids and adults alike in this very area of passions. Many people feel that when it comes to being involved in ministry or missions, we need to follow the standard procedure of going to seminary to be a pastor/minister or just volunteer to be on the church praise and welcome teams. God calls us to so much more than that and shame on the church for misleading people to believe that ministry is limited to these minimal capacities within the community. God is excited to feature your gifts and passions for music, art, sports, algebra (yes, that's a thing), cooking, reading, writing, etc. on the missions field. God gave us our passions and gifts. Sometimes they are intertwined, and sometimes they couldn’t be further apart. Either way, God gave them to us and they were meant to be used for God’s Kingdom and not our own. And people need to know that God has a perfect calling for us and more often than not, it will involve our gifts and passions. It is not common that God would call us to do something we are incapable of doing or would utterly despise. If you are one of the many/most Christians living on this planet trying to figure out what God wants you to do with your life, I suggest you start evaluating what it is that is your gifts and your passions. What are the things that get you excited? and what are the things you know you are good at. Chances are, your mission/calling is probably sitting in there waiting to be called off the bench and into action. Or you can continue to settle being that usher who hands out bulletins in the entrance of the church. But even if you can sort out what your mission purpose/calling is, the next obstacle many people address is “How can I leave my home/life behind?” ![]() If God came to you today and spoke to you in an audible voice and told you very clearly to become a missionary, what would your reaction be? Would you drop everything you are doing and just GO (like Abraham)? Would you squirm a little bit and question whether the voice is truly God’s or not (like Gideon)? Would you ignore God’s call altogether and run the opposite direction (like Jonah)? Would you give a plethora of excuses as to why you need to pick someone else (like Moses)? God has been calling people all over the world to missions since the beginning of time. Missionaries have shaped the globe. Their impact has changed the world in incredible ways. But yet, as privileged as this calling may be, people do not always answer the call enthusiastically or faithfully. I will be honest, when God called me to the work that I have now my response was doing my best Forest Gump impersonation; "RUN!" Before we unpack any answers you might have. I want to define what a Missionary is. There are a variety of technical definitions but I am going to use a description that will make more sense for us moving forward in our conversations. “A missionary is someone who I believe is called by God to step out of the comfort of traditional life to fulfill a specific part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28).” As you think about what your response to God would be in that moment of calling, I would like to highlight some of the fears, questions or excuses people tend to think of when the idea of missions is presented.
One of the coolest things I get to experience in my work is hearing the stories of people from all over the place from all walks of life. I am always encouraged to hear from people who read my blogs and feel encouraged. I love the positive notes I get from people I have never met. The following is a story one of my “fans” sent me and she gave me permission to share it with you. I copied her story down here. Enjoy!
“I grew up in church and in my teen years I had a few "come to Jesus" moments but over time they wore off. My true ahh-ha moment was when I was 24. I was already a single mom of two going through a very short lived marriage (I'm talking 3 days) and long drawn out divorce (a year and a half). When he and I split I came back home and fell into drinking very heavily. I ended up pregnant again (this time with twins). I was struggling with my own inner demons and trying to figure out what on earth I was going to do. Finally, as a last resort I started praying. I asked God to give me a solution to my current situation. I had been going back and forth about placing the twins for adoption. Deep down I knew it was the best choice for everyone involved but out of spite towards my family I wanted to keep them. So one day I sat down and decided I was just going to open my Bible and start reading. The very first passage I read was Philippians 2:3-4; "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourself, look not to your own interests but to the interest of others." Needless to say I didn't get any further than that. I had my answer. And from that day on I no longer had the internal battles and demons. I went through with the adoption. On April 9,2009 I gave birth to 2 healthy beautiful baby boys and placed them in the arms of a couple who longed for children and had struggled for years trying to have their own family. April 10th, 2009 was the last time I held them or saw them in person. After some time of not talking about it and keeping to myself I was asked if I could speak at a youth group about my story going back to high school and through the adoption. I agreed. Since then I have done multiple seminars and such and became the go to contact for a crisis pregnancy center when girls came in considering abortion. Every girl they gave my number to actually called me and every single one of them chose to continue their pregnancy; 3 kept their babies and 4 went through with adoptions. God took me at my weakest point in my life lifted me from my self destructive mess and used me in the best way possible. To save the lives of innocent children who were almost not given the chance at life. Not only did He save me and show me the love and forgiveness I did not deserve but He allowed me to become a vessel of love and forgiveness for Him.” ![]() It was the summer of 2003 outside Memphis, Tennessee. I was gathered along with about 100 other ambitious (mostly young women) soon-to-be missionaries. It was our Pre Field Orientation/Training. The training was about 2 weeks long and at the completion of this training we would all be sent all over the world. As for me, I was headed to South Korea to teach and I was super excited to return to the place I graduated from high school just a mere 4 years earlier. While at this training we were divided into smaller groups and in one of our small group sessions we went around the circle and shared our testimonies about how we met Jesus and how we chose to be missionaries overseas. This is a pretty common practice in these settings. However, strangely enough, as a young 21 year old college graduate, I have never really had to explain my testimony to anyone in great detail before, but with my new group of friends, I was excited to hear and share. After all, we were all on a pretty good spiritual high just being there. As we went around the room from person to person, tears were flowing from so many people as they recalled the dramatic circumstances that led them to Christ and their decision to serve. One woman shared how she watched her husband and child die in a car crash, another individual caught her husband cheating and went through a divorce, a man recalled laying on the floor with a gun waiting to kill himself, another person was suffering with alcohol and drugs, and the stories went on and on how God saved them from each tragic circumstance. With every turn, each person seemed to outdo the next as the stories got more and more graphic, complicated and traumatizing. As much as I was blessed to hear the stories and be encouraged to know I serve an incredible God, I was a bit overwhelmed with stress as I noticed my turn was approaching. As the woman before me finished her story and more boxes of tissues were being brought in, the attention in the room all fell on me. As all the eyes were piercing at me, I was trying to think of a way to share my story that would show how awesome our God was and attempt to compete with my new peers. But since, I came from a pretty decently stable family and no one in my family died, divorced, or struggled with any drugs or crime, I couldn’t really talk about that. I personally didn’t feel the pain that so many others shared. My salvation experience was a rather long drawn out process that started out as a young boy who was scared to go to the "BAD PLACE" and got "saved" every chance I could as opposed to a one big emotionally driven spiritual moment that altered the trajectory of my life. And whether or not it is normal, I felt a bit ashamed of my “dull” story. Once I finally stopped trying to rewrite my story on the fly, I finally took a deep breath and smiled at everyone and just told the truth. “Hello everyone, my name is Luke. I grew up in a pastor’s and missionary’s family. I pretty much always knew God was there and loved me. And if I forgot that for any reason, my parents had a nice wooden paddle to remind me of God’s justice and omnipresence.” I paused to let people giggle at the joke, hoping they would catch it. I went on to say “And I decided to be a missionary in Korea because that is where I am from. So, it made sense to go back.” With a corny and awkward smile I indicated that my 22 seconds story was done and it was time to move on to the next person. I remember going back to my room that night a little down. I really started questioning things that to that point were never in question. I prayed to God that night asking Him why my testimony was so boring and why couldn’t I have a cool dramatic story like everyone else. I know it’s not uncommon to envy someone's new car, job, life, etc. but here I am hung up on the testimonies of other people and I was genuinely jealous. I remember thinking how awesome it would be to say that I was saved out of some crazy situation and wondered if I should spend a time of my life drinking, sleeping around, etc. just so I can have Jesus save me from it. This was certainly a strange new low for me. Fast forward a few years and I was having a conversation with a friend of mine (a fellow PK) who shared with me that he had similar thoughts about how “boring” his testimony was until one day someone told him something that I still appreciate. He was in a similar small group setting and people were sharing their stories. As he recalled the story, he told me how he actually apologized to the group that his story was not that exciting compared to others in the room and he wished he could share something amazing with them. As the meeting continued and the leader was praying for everyone, he took a moment and prayed for my friend by saying “Thank you God for saving my friend from experiencing all the things so many of us people are broken by.” When I heard that story, it changed everything! God saved me not from only hell, but from all that other stuff as well. WHY AM I COMPLAINING ABOUT MY STORY? I need to be super thankful about what God saved me from. I am thankful that God saved me from having to go through a lot of things. However, as time went on, I realize that my story is not that simple as you will learn. As one prepares to embark on the MISSION that God has called us to. We need to really focus on the things/steps that got us to where we are. For some people, the mission was clear and concise, while for others it was a messy phase of confusion and ambiguity. Some people stumbled over their mission the moment they received Christ while others had to wait it out. Some people were given direct instructions from God himself while others had to put together a 2000 piece puzzle that had no colors or picture to draw from. Each person has their own story and path and as Liam Neeson said on the movie Taken “I have a very particular set of skills" that God can only give for a very unique purpose. I am excited to now share with you the story of how I got involved in Mission work and why I believe so many people in this world are scared to death about getting involved in missions. There are a lot of things to consider and much of them will scare us. But we know God is all about giving peace, NOT FEAR! ![]() I just arrived back in Korea from China. Needless to say, I am tired and ready for a long nap. However, I am sitting here in a place called Jesus Coffee (yes, this is a real place), I got myself some extra espresso shots, as I am trying to crank out this super late post while preparing to lead a Bible study as well. I still have to admit, I love what I do! So, today we tackle the topic of Salvation. This is hardly a topic that can be done justice in a few short paragraphs, but for the sake of sanity and simplicity, I will do this in a one take and see what happens. Keep in mind, if you are a bit lost in life and really want to know what God has for you and what your MISSION (marching orders) is, then perhaps you need to return to the beginning. This is the place where God became real in your life and you knew for the first time that this God is what I want and need! Everybody has a different and unique story about how this happens. It is often called different things; the come to Jesus moment, the day you got saved, born again, accepting Christ in your heart, etc. but what do you remember about it? What was your experience like when God became real and you knew you could trust his Son as your Savior? Some of you came to that realization through agonizing tears of repentance, while others perhaps just woke up one morning and said “Yup. I’ll take that.” And continued your daily routine with a different sense of purpose. The Bible shows a variety of salvation scenarios. Paul was struck down by a bright light on the way to persecute Christians. The thief on the cross simply acknowledged Christ and was ushered into Paradise moments later. Nicodemus had to have everything broken down into baby terms before he accepted. And the Ethiopian eunuch was randomly met by Philip in the desert and converted after reading scripture. In order for this topic of salvation to be clearly discussed, I want you as the reader to take a moment and think about the day, hour, minute, etc. when you accepted Christ in your life for the first time. Think about that moment and what it meant. The moment we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, is the moment when something new and exciting happens. We are not talking about a melodramatic spiritual moment when the sky opens up and a bright light shines down on you and a Morgan Freeman type voice comes out and says “Welcome to the ELC (Eternal Life Club).” No. No. We are talking about something much more exciting than that. This is the moment when a faith journey is redefined. This is a break in time and history, it is that moment B.C. becomes A.D. This is the moment that Christ explained to Nicodemus when you are born again. It’s a moment that gives you a chance to start over with your life. It’s the moment where you finally stop staring at the water in fear from above, take a deep breath and jump off the high dive for the very first time. It’s a moment that is both scary and exhilarating. It’s the beginning of a new orientation, a new purpose, a new focus, A NEW LIFE (an ETERNAL one)! “The old has passed away. A new era has begun.” It’s the moment you trade in the older broken model of what you thought was you for the new and eternal one. It’s the moment when you finally concede that you cannot do this on your own any longer. It’s the moment when you realize how dirty you are and in need of a cleansing and how much you need a Savior who is willing to help you with this dirty work. It’s a pretty exciting moment. Do you remember it? Or did these thoughts ever cross your mind or soul? Or like so many other people, you just didn’t want to go to hell and you thought praying a prayer was just the only way out (we will discuss that later). As awesome as that initial moment of faith was or was supposed to be; the moments that followed this “excitingly monumental moment” are often a bit different. After you have jumped off the high dive and splashed hard landing feet first with horrible form and a loud belly smack into the water, you frantically swim/scramble to the edge of the pool. You secure your hands to the poolside wall and you take another deep breath, look back at the high dive and assess what you just did with a bit of personal pride and excitement. The moment you stepped off the edge of the diving board was exhilarating and terrifying. The moment of awe between the board and the splash of the water was unforgettable. After you finish reviewing what just happened and checking to see who was watching, the inevitable question that gets all of us hits you like a linebacker blindsiding an unsuspecting football quarter back about to make a pass; “Now what do I do?” WHAM! (Quarterback is sacked). How many of you remember the first morning after you accepted Christ into your life. You wake up and realize that life still goes on. You still have work or school. You still are hungry. You still have bills to pay or friends to meet. You still have that nagging back injury and chronic headaches. You realize that you still struggle with lust, obesity, pride, or whatever sin that you possessed. You begin to wonder if anything really changed. You were beyond excited last night when you gave it all to God in tears. You truly meant it. You truly felt a heart change. But that was yesterday. Now a choice has to be made. But you do not even know what the choices are. You are not sure where to begin. You begin to stress a little and get anxious. Do you simply sit at the edge of the pool and watch other divers. Or do you climb out and go to the top of that high dive and try again? But you ask yourself; “What’s the point? Didn’t I already jump in?” Let the mission begin! ![]() We have discussed in the last few blog posts that “the mission” is all about the marching orders. And now we are going to talk about “choosing” the side we will take orders from. This is a pretty easy yet amcomplicated topic to tackle. Today we are going to focus more on the freedom of choice. We as humans love and hate this freedom. God allows us to make so many decisions all the time but yet none of these choices compare to the one that Joshua offers the Israelite people in Joshua 24:15; “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." This same choice faces you and me every single day regardless if you are a saved, sanctified Christian, or a lost, hopeless sinner. So, how decisive are you? I am faced with a lot of important decisions in life that quite frankly freak me out. From the moment I wake up in the morning I have to decide a lot of things. Usually the first decision of the day involves whether or not I should hit the snooze button. Than I have to decide whether or not I should pray and give the day to God and begin to focus my attitude on Him or mope around and long for my precious pillow. As the day continues I begin to face decisions that may involve my career, my relationships, my body, my mind, others around me, etc. Before I know it, I am inundated with decisions after decisions and I always feel the pressure by life’s deadlines. It is no wonder my hairline is parting like the Red Sea in Exodus. I remember the last time I was in North Korea, this is a nation that is infamous for its lack of choices and other issues. I had a chance to sit down for coffee with one of the locals (the coffee was pretty much the worse stuff ever FYI). The conversation topic was the freedom of information. I was making the argument that there are more benefits to having more information. The local man was very attentive and clearly agreed with much of what I said but then he made a point that was certainly true as well. In perfect English he said; “You know Luke, as much as it would be nice to know more, I believe that the more info you have also means the more stress you have.” I replied; “Ain’t that the truth!” I am reminded of this truth every time I walk into McDonalds. As I approach the counter, I am overwhelmed with stress when I see the enormity of their menu. I am not sure why, after all, I know I am going to get a double cheeseburger regardless of how long I stare at the menu. Let’s just face it, decisions are tough to make and many times we have to make them without the adequate experience or information to feel comfortable. I would love it if God would just come down and just clearly make some of life’s decisions for me but it doesn’t work that way. After all, if God did that than I would probably get upset that God didn’t let me make the decision on my own. Like most humans, I am too fickle and impossible to please. But the choice we are talking about here is WHO ARE WE GOING TO TAKE ARE MARCHING ORDERS FROM? Whose side are you willing to give your life for? Either you are on God’s side or you are not. There is no third neutral option offered. Eternity doesn’t afford us another choice. Are you in or are you out? It is black and white. Grey doesn’t exist in this world. And we are not given an unlimited amount of time to sort this out. At some point you are going to have to decide. And by not deciding is simply saying no to the GOD OPTION. This apparent “neutrality” plays into the enemy’s hands. Making the decision to follow God is a crucial and amazing thing but do we really understand what that means? How does one truly become a God Follower? The next post will talk about what it really means to be a Christian and how salvation may or may not work. After all, we do not receive our marching orders until we know who our leader is. ![]() War is often a controversial topic. It is often glorified by those who have never experienced it or loathed by those who have witnessed the carnage on the front lines. Regardless of who you are, YOU HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT IT! I am currently writing this post in Seoul, South Korea. Korea is no stranger to war. You can still go out onto the street here and meet people around you who remember first-hand what it was like to survive the atrocities of war in their backyards. Even now, if you turn on the news you can hear the reports of how North Korea is threatening to open the flood gates and bring back the hellish nightmare of war that has kept people living in fear for a generation. Times are tense and people would rather think of anything other than the war or conflict that is standing on their doorstep. After all, isn’t there so many other pretty things worth dwelling on? Trying to ignore such an issue and hope it simply goes away is hardly a good strategy for success. The Bible clearly uses the metaphor of war to describe the life in which we live. After all, can you think of a better metaphor that clearly defines our reality? Think about what the scriptures talk about: Ephesians 6 lays out the FULL ARMOR of GOD for us to put on and does not shy away from calling our life’s journey a battle. And Paul mentions how we need to “fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12)." And don't forget the whole "DIE to yourselves daily thing.” But in order to have a war you need to have opponents. Who are the sides? What are their causes? What does the pension package look like? How do I know which side I should join or should I stay neutral like the good ole' Swiss? From the moment Lucifer decided that his way was better than God’s way, a war ensued. Angels quickly had to choose sides. The forces of darkness and the forces of light plunged to God’s perfect creation, Earth, and began fighting for the souls of mankind. This is where we are today. You would think this sounds like the opening crawl of an Episode of Star Wars and then immediately cutting to the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. But this is hardly fiction or fantasy. This is not revisionist history but a major dose of reality. Jesus says in Mathew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me.” Well, that pretty much sums up the futility of staying neutral. And we learn explicitly that God is not a big fan of lukewarm water either. You might as well pick a side and roll with it, because whether you believe it or not, or like it or not: YOU ARE IN THIS WAR. And if you refuse to take sides: YOU WILL DIE. If you choose the losing side: YOU WILL DIE. If you choose the winning side and refuse to take orders: YOU MAY DIE AND TAKE OTHERS WITH YOU. This is not a pretty picture. This is not the Precious Moment's mural you will find painted in your local church's nursery. Nor a message you may hear behind a pulpit very often. I know, I know… you are probably saying “Come on Mr. Doom and Gloom Luke, enough with the dying already. We should be more positive and focus on rainbows and doves.” Would you also want me to throw in some unicorns and teddy bears and sing a happy song while you sit in your little “Safe Space?” I understand no one wants to talk about the topic of death. But if you have chosen the side that is led by none other than Jesus Himself than perhaps you have already noticed that dying is not an issue with Team Jesus. That is because Christ smacked death in its ugly face a long time ago and conquered it. I am pretty sure the other side hasn’t figured out the secret to immortality yet, nor will they ever. But let's be real here, just because death has been conquered doesn’t mean we have the secret remedy to pain, suffering, confusion and other problems that our flesh has to endure. And trust me, the enemy knows it and will use it all to take you down. But don’t lose heart, we will talk a lot about those things later. So, what is “the Mission” exactly? In short, it is the reason you were created. It is the purpose for your existence. It is energy behind your gifts and passions. It is the cause in which you are willing to fight and perhaps die for. It drives you through the longest work weeks and motivates you to stand up and smile in the face of life's giants. “The Mission” is your marching orders from God himself. Within your orders you will have a clearer picture of where you are going in life and what you will do. You will be able to look through the lens of the one who gives you your orders and make more sense of your relationships, career, family, etc. The biggest decision you will have to face in life is CHOOSING TO EXCEPT GOD'S ORDERS OR NOT. But in order to receive those orders you have to choose sides. How does one choose a side? ![]() In the wee hours of June 6, 1944 a soldier was awaken by his commanding officer. He immediately jumped out of his bunk and changed into his Government Issued uniform while gathering his gear. He quickly reported to roll call with the rest of his company. While standing at attention he listened to his superiors review the plan for that day’s duty. “Today we begin Operation Overload,” the commander shouts. “You have trained hard for this and now you will be the first to invade Normandy (France). Your objective will be securing this beach front called Omaha.” As the commander points at the spot on the map, he continues to speak; “Today we take control of this war! Go to your stations.” The soldier along with his company gives a firm “YES SIR” and gathers his stuff and goes to his battle station. The soldier takes a deep breath and boards a ship with thousands of other anxious and apprehensive soldiers. The soldier knows the task that lies ahead. He has trained and prepared for this moment. He takes a look at the men standing silently around him. He knows that many of those men will never make it alive to the beach much less complete the mission that they were briefed about. But this soldier knew the risks when he enlisted in the Army. He knew that many of those men around him were drafted and had no desire to be there. But this soldier knew who he was, what he was fighting for, what his orders were, and made a purpose in his heart that he was going to do his duty or die trying. He wanted his life to mean something. He wanted to do his part and help win this war that never seemed to end. As the gate of their landing craft opened, the soldiers quickly scrambled as they filed out into the salty water. They were greeted by a barrage of machine gun and sniper fire from a variety of fortified areas on the beach. Within moments this particular soldier couldn't help but see the carnage of mutilated limbs and dead bodies all around him. These horrific images immediately brought about the reality that this battle is real and deadly. With every passing moment the life expectancy of a combatant on the Omaha beach front drops drastically and the task of carrying out the orders looks bleak. However, this lone soldier pushes on with his marching orders. One by one his soldier friends drop left and right. Despite the catastrophic losses, the lone soldier lets out a battle cry and continues to clear a path on the beach. However, such as the fate of the other men in his company a bullet finds its way to him, penetrating his government issued uniform and settles in his lung. The impact of this red hot bullet sends this lone soldier to the sandy beach floor. As life begins to slip away from this lonely soldier he finally takes a moment to look back. To his surprise he sees that he has made it further than anyone else that landed with him. And now he sees more landing crafts and more soldiers and marines behind him storm up the beach. In his last dying breathe he gives a loud “Hoorah!” and encourages the next wave of soldiers and marines to push even further. |
AuthorLUKE R ELIE Archives
July 2017
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