daily java

Daily Java:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Mission work has to be one of the hardest things a Christ follower can do. and probably one of the most exciting. Moving into an area where there are people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus and beginning to teach.

Sometimes it is just a desire to plant a church of your denomination. There may be a hundred churches there already, but you want one of your particular flavor. And that is okay.

Sometimes it is moving into a city where it is woefully underchurched and trying to reach those thousands or millions that are without Jesus.

Sometimes it is going into an area that is antagonistic to the whole message of Jesus and trying to bring his grace into a pagan or infidel society.

Whatever the avowed purpose of bringing the church, it is hard. Harder, of course, in cities that are antagonistic to your message. These would be places like the Middle East where it if often against the law to convert from Islam.

But I have to admit that bringing the church into a city where there are lots of churches can be as hard. Complacency sets in and people do not care. It is a result of overexposure and undercaring that results in thousands of people who don’t even bother to go anymore. They no longer care.

One thing is for certain, in the places that are antagonistic to the gospel, the people are stronger in the faith. They have to be. To keep something in the face of such resistance brings real strength. It is the kind of strength the apostles and early church had in the first century. The kind of strength that Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego had in the book of Daniel.

Their comment to persecution: our God will deliver us, and even if he doesn’t, we still will not do what is wrong. That is strength.

It is the kind of strength I strive for here in Lincoln. The church is small and has gone through a tumultuous time since I have been here. That was due to some who felt it was their divine right to determine what went on in the church and who resisted change of any kind.

That hurts a work and hurts a preacher. It saps the joy right out of a work. For the past year I have been sitting here trying to figure out what I should do, what I shouldn’t have done and all without the denominational support I thought I would have.

I believe that it is easier and more productive to plant a new church in a city than to bring a dead one back to life. that said, however, I am in a dead one and this is where the Lord has put me. But it has deepened my depression.

I had a burst of optimism when I began this fast  a couple weeks ago, but I am not sure if that is my natural Pollyanna side coming out or not. Time will tell. The three words that have come to me, I am still mulling over.

Can it be that I am not a failure? Can it be that God is not through with me? Can it be that God not just shunted me here to this small church in the middle of nowhere just to put me out of the way so he can do other better things?

I wait.

Father God, I ask for power to your missionaries of every stripe and kind that preach your word. empower them, give them fruit in their work and help those whom they bring in to be strong and bear fruit themselves. Show me your way. give me your joy. Set me free from this prison so that I may praise your name. I praise you. Amen.