Kristin and Deanna...Kristin is helping us lead our Peru team this summer. She was on BJ's last team...


I find myself having to withdraw a bit from writing here. So much of what I have to say is extremely important (to me), but I fear comes across as judgmental when I put it to paper.

I have no sense that what I convey is bearing fruit. I am not looking for affirmation. I want to know that people are responding to the call of Christ in their lives.

A friend came to me recently and said, "I am so tired of people telling me they cannot wait until Christ returns. If they really felt that way, shouldn't they live a life that reflects it?"

She has a valid point. We tend to use our conversations about Christ's return as some sort of an escape...an out...a place to hide.

If we truly had a heavenly mindset, we would not be just talking, but we would be out sharing who Jesus is with the lost... those that Jesus doesn't desire to see perish apart from a relationship with Him.

My purposes in writing on this site are about bringing glory to God and attempting to motivate others to do so. We cannot afford to look at our relationship with Christ as a place of refuge without being active in doing what He has called us to do.

Most of those who make such statements (as the one my friend is tired of hearing) are not doing anything to share Jesus, they are just tired of having to do life. Much of the reason we have little joy in life is that we don't focus on serving Him, but we put most of our effort into building our own earthly kingdoms, and it makes us tired and frustrated.

Jesus told us not to store up for ourselves treasures on earth, but to store treasures in heaven. That means we focus on doing what He impresses on us to do. We live to serve Him and His desires.

Some are offended at this, wanting just to be saved by grace without ever having to do anything... especiall if it makes them uncomfortable.

We were not called to lives of comfort... as my son made so clear by how he wrote and how he lived. Yet it is what most believer's do. We seek to be comfortable. We pursue the American Dream, and forsake the call of Christ.

We let precious few things get in the way of our comfort. Things that challenge us or make us ill-at-ease, are quickly weeded out of our lives and discarded.

People spend ridiculous sums of money every year on vacation, and have nothing to give to the Lord. People spend insane amounts on elective surgery to "look better," but never do anything to 'serve better.'

Good intentions don't merit any applause.

Our lives are supposed to be a sweet aroma to Christ our King. Instead, we are building mighty fortresses that only an elect few are aloud to enter. We don't let many past the security gate of who we really are.

Christ's return for those who toss the phrase about, often is more about reaching that place where the problems of life cannot touch them. Where they can take their ease in their heavenly mansion, which surely must be more comfortable than the earthly ones they are constantly building.

We Christians will stand before the judgment seat to give an account of how we lived our lives for Him. Way too many of us are going to merely survive as those escaping through flames. We have built little to nothing on the foundation of Christ. What we have on earth may invoke the envy of neighbors, but a Mighty God has no need for such poverty.

What impact have we had on or in the lives of the lost, the broken, the orphans, the widows?

James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

We are pretty good at quoting the first part of this verse. Who even remembers the last part?

If we follow the call of our Savior successfully, then we would not be making such large storehouses on earth, we wouldn't be tearing down our current barns to build bigger ones, to hold more stuff. We would be tending the needs of others. We would be serving. We would be having His impact and leaving His mark on the world. Not living life trying to make one for ourselves.

Until we get this, we will not be keeping ourselves from the pollution of our culture. Rather, we are embracing it and teaching our children to do likewise.

There will be those who will be quick to ask how I have a job if it weren't for the giving of believers.

Believers spend four times more per year on weight loss than they do missions. If every believer gave $2 a month to missions, it would increase giving by 90%.

Not only do most of us not give with our lives, we don't give with our money... and it won't be long before our vile taste in the mouth of a Holy God causes vomiting.

If we say we get it, then we will demonstrate it by the actions of our lives... everyday.

Don't talk about His return and your desire for it, unless you are "actively, forcefully, even violently,"* out there making a difference for Him. The corresponding joy will be apparent in your journey of faith and will help overcome the low selfish ebbs we are each prone to.


dad


* I am in no way encouraging violence, rather quoting my son and implying the significant effort we must put into living for Him.