Today I reached out to a new believer in in Ghana, later in the morning I had the chance to minister to a real life prodigal son from Egyp who had just come back to the Lord after decades of wandering. Before noon I had also ministered to a lonely guy from Dallas and a struggling Christian who lives in a heavily Islamic area of the world, Saudi Arabia. I did all this through a mouse. Not the furry little vermin but my computer mouse. Of course Dell didn't build my computer with this capability. I have partnered with an organization called Global Media Outreach. GMO uses over 90 websites to "troll" the internet for people who are searching for meaning, for answers, and ultimately for God. Using mostly online videos rather than text the gospel is shared. Nothing fancy, or overly dramatic simple truth presented by real people, But with traffic of over a million hits a day it only takes a small percentage of visitors respond to an invitation to either accept Jesus Christ as Savior or rededicate their lives to Christ to create huge numbers (all of which represent a person loved and redeemed by Christ. After responding GMO doesn't claim victory and leave the vulnerable new believers to get by on their own. They connct them with the churh. Not a church - THE church the people of God. .
That's where I and over 2000 other "online missionaries" come into play. We share with, answer questions, pray for, and open up our lives to people. Many you never hear from again and we trust that God continues to work on their hearts. But some (in my case about 15-20 percent) write back with more questions, issues, needs and relationships begin to develop. It's not the idea of "mission work" that I grew up with with. But it works. How do I know. Because it's changed me.
Through daily interactions with new believers through GMO I have been changed. It changes the way I pray. It changes the way I watch the news. Many times I am watching the news and hear about riots in the Sudan or suspected election fraud in Thailand now instead of "tuning out" I begin to pray for those countries - why? Because I have family there.
So drag out the old mouse and click your way to www.gmojoinus.com and check it out. GMO has easy training videos and a well thought through portal that allows you to track your emails, Set up templates to help you respond to common posts and even to set times when you will be away and unable to respond to emails request, and connects you with a community leader that is there to help you along the way. The numbers are phenomnal over 9 million decisions for Christ. Now I'm pretty skeptical about those numbers but if only 1 in 100 is an actual converstion that still means that 90 thousand people have been touched by Christ and His church through this ministry - all without ever leaving home .... not bad.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
A new glimpse of eternity
I don't get many original ideas. But earlier this year God used a troubling verse to help me understand eternity in a new way. First let me say that I am a social being. I like talking with people, I like playing games with people. I enjoy singing with people. However if you take the people out of these activities I find them somewhat boring and tedious. For this reason the idea of spending eternity worshipping God as portrayed in Rev.4 has left me somewhat cold. Don't get me wrong I love playing and singing praise to God, and when an entire gathering of people join their voices in worship - it's truly wonderful. But even the best worships begin to loose their luster after about and hour and a half. Now think of one that last for a couple hundred thousand years, or decades, or millennium - get the point. Who wants to be in church for that long? Do you, be honest now.
My "original idea" (it wasn't original to God) came to me as we were reading the following passage in worship.
Deut. 5:9-10 (NIV)
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [10] but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
To be honest this is one of those passages in scripture that sort of pissed me off. How could a loving God punish a child, not for their sins but the sins of another? Now I understood the passage that our sins have consequences and as a father my screw ups leave scars upon my children that will last into my grandchildren and great grandchildren. But it was from this same passage that I received a new glimpse into eternity. For the scripture goes on that for those that love God their is a positive legacy that last not for two or three but a thousand generations.
If you really believe these words I hope you can believe this. In God's kingdom we will see the connections of how God has blessed us (usually through others) and these blessings will be evident as far back as a thousand generations. So my new picture of heaven is walking into the great assembly of God's people and having tons of people I've never met saying "John - I've wanted to meet you for years. Back when you were in Oklahoma you brought a youth group to the nursing home and sang for a half dozen grey haired old women. One of them was my great great grandmother who shared the joy she received from your visit with my her daughter, my great grandmother. From those few songs and a nervous hug you started my entire family on our journey of faith. As soon as he or she turns away I see a face and I recognize this woman, even though we've never met. I walk up and say "Mrs Patterson - we've never me but your son Craig is largely responsible for me being here today, thank you for passing the blessing on to your son, who then passed it on to me. Imagine a 1000 generations - people from rural Africa being connected to people born 10 thousand years before who never left the fields of Kentucky. People from small home churches being connected to pastors of mega congregations. Blacks being connected with whites. People who speak only Swahili being connected wtih believers in China. Talk about a party! And what's better it will never get old because you are always meeting new members of God's family that you blessed or you were blessed through them! Now that is a heaven I can get excited about!
My "original idea" (it wasn't original to God) came to me as we were reading the following passage in worship.
Deut. 5:9-10 (NIV)
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [10] but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
To be honest this is one of those passages in scripture that sort of pissed me off. How could a loving God punish a child, not for their sins but the sins of another? Now I understood the passage that our sins have consequences and as a father my screw ups leave scars upon my children that will last into my grandchildren and great grandchildren. But it was from this same passage that I received a new glimpse into eternity. For the scripture goes on that for those that love God their is a positive legacy that last not for two or three but a thousand generations.
If you really believe these words I hope you can believe this. In God's kingdom we will see the connections of how God has blessed us (usually through others) and these blessings will be evident as far back as a thousand generations. So my new picture of heaven is walking into the great assembly of God's people and having tons of people I've never met saying "John - I've wanted to meet you for years. Back when you were in Oklahoma you brought a youth group to the nursing home and sang for a half dozen grey haired old women. One of them was my great great grandmother who shared the joy she received from your visit with my her daughter, my great grandmother. From those few songs and a nervous hug you started my entire family on our journey of faith. As soon as he or she turns away I see a face and I recognize this woman, even though we've never met. I walk up and say "Mrs Patterson - we've never me but your son Craig is largely responsible for me being here today, thank you for passing the blessing on to your son, who then passed it on to me. Imagine a 1000 generations - people from rural Africa being connected to people born 10 thousand years before who never left the fields of Kentucky. People from small home churches being connected to pastors of mega congregations. Blacks being connected with whites. People who speak only Swahili being connected wtih believers in China. Talk about a party! And what's better it will never get old because you are always meeting new members of God's family that you blessed or you were blessed through them! Now that is a heaven I can get excited about!
Monday, December 6, 2010
God I do love (and hate) Your Timing
A few weeks ago I once again found myself in Kenya a country that is quickly becoming near and dear to my heart. I was there as part of a mission team putting on an vision / eyeglass clinic in to town of Molo in the western part of the country. The clinic had attracted thousands of people each coming with some kind of eye issue. By the final days we were nearly out of everything. Our doctors had run out of medicines, our supply of lenses and frames would be gone by midday. In the midst of this a group of students arrived. Most of these students had 20/20 vision, but they nearly all complained about watery eyes, eyes that hurt, or not being able to see well on sunny days. These are real symptoms of living on the equator where the sun is especially harsh and the air is filled with dust, pollens, and smoke from the fires used to warm homes and cook. I had heard the same complaint from dozens, perhaps hundreds of young people throughout the week and I wanted to yell at this young woman named Elizabeth that we could do nothing to help her. Suddenly God (for it certianly wasn't me) spoke (no I never heard a voice) to me and said "she didn't come here for eye care. I brought her here for another reason". I told Elizabeth that I did believe her eyes bothered her. I assurred her that her eyes were fine, and that I felt God had brought her to me for some other reason. I ask her what that reason might be. She thought for a while then looked me right in the eye and said with conviction in her voice "I think He wants me to be saved!"
Only moments before I was about to crush this young spirit with harsh words that I couldn't help her but God in his perfect timing had a wonderful surprise for me. We go to Kenya, not only to provide eye care services, but to fulfill the great commission and and the great commandment.You've got to ove God's timing! Countless times in my ministry I was ready to throw in the towel and a card, email, or phone call would come, often from a student I ministered to years before new feeling led to let me know the effect that I had on their life. God's timing is perfect. But waiting is not something that I enjoy. I am incredibly impatient. In the past few years I have been praying that God would show me where my new calling was not that I was no longer a youth minister. I am still waiting. I know by faith and by experience that God's timing is wonderful, but it is also hard at times to wait upon.
I can imagine the Hebrews in the wilderness following the cloud. Yesterday it led them to a sheltered valley, out of the wind maybe even water. Yes, here is a great place to stop. Then the next day it's off again. This time it settles over a batten stretch of rock and sand where the wind howls and there is nothing that would want them to stay. But the cloud does stay for days that turn into weeks. Why couldn't God have stopped us yesterday in the peaceful valley?
So I stand in awe (and at times contempt) of God's timing. In Kenya through a young woman named Elizabeth God reinforced the idea that his timing is so much better than mine. That I need to be patient and like Elizabeth ask the question "Why has God brought me here". What do I need to learn? What rough edges need to be honed smooth? For what I need to remember is that God even has a purpse for my waiting.
John
Only moments before I was about to crush this young spirit with harsh words that I couldn't help her but God in his perfect timing had a wonderful surprise for me. We go to Kenya, not only to provide eye care services, but to fulfill the great commission and and the great commandment.You've got to ove God's timing! Countless times in my ministry I was ready to throw in the towel and a card, email, or phone call would come, often from a student I ministered to years before new feeling led to let me know the effect that I had on their life. God's timing is perfect. But waiting is not something that I enjoy. I am incredibly impatient. In the past few years I have been praying that God would show me where my new calling was not that I was no longer a youth minister. I am still waiting. I know by faith and by experience that God's timing is wonderful, but it is also hard at times to wait upon.
I can imagine the Hebrews in the wilderness following the cloud. Yesterday it led them to a sheltered valley, out of the wind maybe even water. Yes, here is a great place to stop. Then the next day it's off again. This time it settles over a batten stretch of rock and sand where the wind howls and there is nothing that would want them to stay. But the cloud does stay for days that turn into weeks. Why couldn't God have stopped us yesterday in the peaceful valley?
So I stand in awe (and at times contempt) of God's timing. In Kenya through a young woman named Elizabeth God reinforced the idea that his timing is so much better than mine. That I need to be patient and like Elizabeth ask the question "Why has God brought me here". What do I need to learn? What rough edges need to be honed smooth? For what I need to remember is that God even has a purpse for my waiting.
John
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Gentle Tug
No this is not the name of a chidren's book about a good natured tug boat it is a simply philosophy taught to me growing up on my grandma's farm in Kidder, Missouri. One day my cousin and I picked a bunch of peaches off one of the trees in an orchard on the farm. They looked good. But when we took them in to my grandma she gave each a squeeze and announced we had picked them too early. We told her they looked right and she explained that the tree knew when the fruit was ripe. Now grandma was a wonderful woman but even at 10 years old I doubted she talked to the trees so I asked her "how does the tree let you know when the peaches are ripe?" Her answer was simple "when you pick the fruit too early the tree tries to hold on to them it resist having the fruit removed from it's branches, but when it's ripe a simple gentle tug is all it takes - and the tree releases the fruit right into your hand. However if you miss this opportunity the tree will release it's fruit and it will drop to the ground where the insects eat at it and the sheep and cows step on it. We need to be aware and it may take several gentle tugs before the fruit and the tree are truly ready". (This is a paraphrase since I can't remember where I put my car keys 5 minutes ago, much less the exact words spoken by Mabel O'Connor to two of her grandsons over 4 decades ago.)
This philosophy was lost on a 10 year old but 40 plus years later it is making great sense. In the past few years I have spent some time looking back over my 30+ years of ministry. What I have found is that when I tried to "force" spiritual moments to take place (at youth evnts, retreats, confirmation classes) they seldom happened. But when I simply was present in the lives of people, in the midst of their joys, their mundane daily activities and their pain, I often found that a simple word, hug, or gesture brought the greatest rewards. Being there when the fruit was ripe and then being willing to offer a simple gentle tug changed lives. As I begin a new season of ministry I am left with Jesus words found in Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." I don't know what the Lord has in store for me. But what I do know is that I want to be a worker in his harvest field. Investing my life in things that will never pass away. Moving naturally through life and using every opportunity to give a "gentle tug" in Jesus name.
This philosophy was lost on a 10 year old but 40 plus years later it is making great sense. In the past few years I have spent some time looking back over my 30+ years of ministry. What I have found is that when I tried to "force" spiritual moments to take place (at youth evnts, retreats, confirmation classes) they seldom happened. But when I simply was present in the lives of people, in the midst of their joys, their mundane daily activities and their pain, I often found that a simple word, hug, or gesture brought the greatest rewards. Being there when the fruit was ripe and then being willing to offer a simple gentle tug changed lives. As I begin a new season of ministry I am left with Jesus words found in Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. [38] Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." I don't know what the Lord has in store for me. But what I do know is that I want to be a worker in his harvest field. Investing my life in things that will never pass away. Moving naturally through life and using every opportunity to give a "gentle tug" in Jesus name.
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