This is my Golden Retriever, Maggie. I will argue with you all day that they are the best dog breed for families. But sometimes, okay – a lot of sometimes, I find myself too busy to properly care for her. On certain days, I don’t have time to toss the ball, I find her begging for attention intrusive and annoying, and I definitely don’t have time to groom her to start her day.
That’s when I know I’m too busy.
Maggie is one of my “margin indicators”. If I had the proper amount of margin (or “flexible time”) in my day, I would choose to spend some of it with Maggie. If I don’t have time to do some of these things with her, I don’t have enough margin. It’s that simple.
As Christians, when we get too busy, we get too tired. And when you are too tired, you don’t have the energy and focus to serve the Lord, and your church, effectively.
So when I notice that I’m not noticing Maggie, it’s a cue for me to slow down. It’s time to find some margin.
Another margin indicator for me is my car. I hate a dirty car – inside or out – so if it’s dirty for more than a week – time to slow down.
How about you? What margin indicators do you look for in your life?
Concerning evangelism, discipleship, and church work in general we often create unnecessary pressure for ourselves, because we think outside of our role.
A farmer understands that it is his job to till the land, plant the seeds, water and nourish the seeds, and wait for the harvest. He has fulfilled his duty if he does these things faithfully. It is up to God (and the environment He created) to produce a crop. In other words, the farmer knows there’s only so much he can do.
All that we can do is share the gospel, pray, and do our best to provide discipleship opportunities. It is the Holy Spirit who does the saving and sanctifying.
As a missionary, one of the best parts of my job is welcoming groups (or individuals) over for a short term missions trip. If you are planning a missions trip at any point in the future, here are some thoughts to make yours successful.
5 ways to make your next missions trip a success:
1 – Be Prayerful Pray before, after, and of course during your trip. Pray for those you will minister to, but most importantly pray that God will speak to you during your trip.
2 – Be Ready to Share The underlying point of a gospel mission trip is to share….the gospel! Make sure you are ready to do this! Sign up for evangelism training at your church before the trip. If that’s not an option, one of the best ways to prepare is to think about, write down, and practice telling your own testimony of coming to Christ.
3 – Go with a Gameplan You should know what your goals are before you set out. This means partnering with a missionary or organization with a specific mission. They should be able to tell you exactly how you will plug in to their system, and what effect you will be able to have. They should also have a follow up system for those people you reach.
4 – Be Teachable
Just because you are from North America doesn’t mean you know everything (I know, it was a shock to me too). We have had mission teams come over to “teach” our church teams how to do drama – only for them to realize that we have a whole staff of professional level drama instructors who produce their own dramas every month! The point is to have a servant attitude. Maybe you will be able to teach, or maybe you will be able to learn!
5 – Keep a Record Keeping a journal will help you process every day what you have seen, and reflect on what God is doing around you. It will also help you greatly as you prepare to give reports on your trip to friends and even your church.
Mission trips are most powerful because you are out of your routine. If you do these 5 things, God can use a missions trip to radically change your perspective on life and serving Him.
These are my thoughts garnered from the past few years of experience. What would you add?
Disclaimer: clicking the links to the news articles below will show pictures of the VMA performace.
I purposely have not watched any clips of Mylie Cyrus’ VMA performance. I recommend that you don’t either. For one, you will never be able to erase whatever you see from your memory. The Psalmist says “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes” (Psalm 101:3) and we should follow suit.
But that’s not the point of this post, it’s just free advice.
The point is that while I was disappointed and sad (but not shocked) by Miley’s recent performance, I was encouraged by the response to it. Major news networks including NBC featured stories highlighting the vulgarity and uselessness of the performance. It seems that even the secular culture sat up and said “ok, enough with that- it’s too far”.
Now, this cultural reaction will not mean any negative effect on Miley’s career. In fact, analysts suggest she can expect a 10-20% increase in sales.
But it does mean that there is still a cultural conscience that can be appealed too. There is still something present in America that causes people to stop and say “that just isn’t right”. And as Christians, that should give us hope. It should give us confidence too.
Our churches should have the confidence to stand up for our convictions, and encourage people to stop buying and therefore justifying this kind of display. We should have the courage to broadcast biblical answers to the questions that people are currently asking regarding morality. Our confidence should be rooted in the fact that our cause is righteous, and strengthened by the fact that there is still a glimmer of national cultural conscience.
If there had been no negative reaction to last week’s VMA performance, I would be admittedly discouraged. Instead, I am hopeful that the flame of righteousness still burning in America can be fanned into a revival once again.
He told James Madison: “I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get plied upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe.”
I think, as with many of his musings, he was largely correct. No. I know he was. I live in one of the major cities on the planet. Metro Manila is consistently in the top 5 cities on the planet in terms of population. I live here among some 22 million people from every religious, economic, and cultural background you can imagine. And it is corrupt, vile, and sinful. Jefferson’s observations are really a commentary of human nature. We are a sinful people; put us together and the interactions reach a boiling point.
Don’t get me wrong – we love living and raising our family in Metro Manila. But Mayberry RFD, this is not.
Yet, this massive people-centric experiment called a megacity is the perfect test tube for a church plant.
Living in the city may mean that we have many more challenges in reaching people – but it also means we have many more people to reach. And when you cast a net into a school of fish, even a bad throw nets some keepers.
Thomas Jefferson was probably justified in his view of cities. The more people you put together, the more sin emerges. And who thinks that situation is a good idea?
But the reality is that megacities exist, and it is our job as believers to reach them with the gospel. Bringing the gospel to the urban environment is, I believe, the most important task of churches today. Cities influence the world, so the churches must influence the cities.
If you are like me, you probably say things like “let’s go to church” or “where is your church located?” on a regular basis. What we are really commenting on is the physical location of the “church” – the building or property. But this thinking is not correct. In fact, the New Testament writers would have been very confused by our understanding and use of the word “church”.
In the New Testament, the word “church” translates to mean “assembly of people”. In the Bible, the idea of a church has nothing to do with a building. It is all about the people that God has redeemed who gather together for worship, instruction, fellowship, and evangelism.
The meeting place is inconsequential.
We are planting churches that focus resources on people, not on buildings. We are using our energy to reach souls, not maintain properties. We call our strategy non-facility dependent church.
There’s nothing wrong with a church having a building – as long as that is not the focus of her ministry. It’s time that we remember that the assembly, and not the assembly hall, is what’s important.
My wife is a 3rd generation missionary, her grandfather is entering 50 years on the mission field, and her parents have been missionaries for 25+ years. Now we are missionaries, raising our kids in a foreign country.
Many things have changed about being a missionary over the years. 50 years ago you came across the globe on a boat. It took an entire month. 20 years ago you got 1 phone call back home once a year because of the cost. Life was much different.
What has changed the context of missionary life more than anything? The internet.
Here’s a list of things not possible for a missionary 10 years ago:
Family Benefits
I can text my mom and dad back in the States 24/7. For free.
I can video chat with my family in the States. On my cell phone. In the car.
My boys know my parents well, because they video chat every week. Did I mention for free?
I can watch anything on TV in the States, in my living room in South East Asia. (slingbox.com)
I can watch live church services from our home church in the States.
I can see pictures of my niece and nephew in the States practically the moment they are taken.
Ministry Benefits
You can watch live videos of our ministry in the Philippines. (RIP “prayer letters”).
After you visit us on a mission trip, you can stay connected to the people you meet here.
I can give a live video report to your church on our ministry activities. For free.
I can manage bank accounts, transfer ministry funds, and exchange money. Instantly. For free.
I can download the latest ministry resources and books straight to my tablet, in under a minute.
No doubt the internet is overused and addictive to some. But for missionaries in the 21st century, I can’t think of a greater thing.
I am currently studying a foreign language that is very foreign to me. As some of you are aware, I live and work in the Philippines as a missionary. One of the languages spoken here is Tagalog (Filipino), and I am studying the language now. Tagalog is heavily based on Spanish – of which I know nothing about. I took 3 years of French in High School and 1 in college. No Spanish. At all.
So, learning Tagalog is proving to be a very difficult thing. But I’ve realized something in the process. To really learn the language, you have to be willing to try to speak it in public situations. And that means being willing to make mistakes. It means being willing to be laughed at (and laugh at yourself). It means being willing to be dumb; admit that you don’t know.
The same applies to our leadership. In order to grow, we must be humble and admit that we don’t know. We must look to others for guidance. We can’t take ourselves too seriously. And we have to admit, to ourselves and others, that in certain areas – we’re dumb.
Once we arrive at that level of clarity, we can being to move forward.
And if you are surrounded with great people, your humbleness will give them a chance to help you – and lead in their own right.
To become a great leader, first be willing to be dumb, and then you can be excellent.
One of the most common analogies the Bible uses to help us understand our relationship with God is a parental one. The Bible teaches that God is our Father.
Now picture your relationship with your earthly dad. What if, for your entire life, you had a brief, one hour meeting with your dad once a week. How well would you know each other? More specifically, how well would you know his mind? Would you know his opinion on issues of life? Would you recognize his voice? Would you know the way he thinks?
Now imagine that you met with your dad once a day, every day, for breakfast. You had long talks about life, family, recreation, and many other topics. Then on the weekends, you got together some more. You spent hours with him then. How well would you know each other after keeping this routine for years?
See the difference?
It’s exactly the same with God. We can be sure God is speaking to us, if we are spending consistent time with Him. We will recognize His voice. We will understand and appreciate His instruction. We will know His opinions. We will be certain it is Him speaking.
And knowing God’s voice will help you as a leader make correct decisions.
