The thing about contentment

Did I learn to be content? Or have I become complacent? Or worse yet, have I learned to be cynical.

The difference between contentment and complacency and cynicism can be hard to distinguish, they may look similar- though internally we likely we feel different, those close to us can likely feel the difference, and it will affect how we relate to others and to God and to life.

The biggest problem is we can fool ourselves easily into thinking we are practicing contentment. Others can’t really tell- and often their own experience/attitude can effect they way they see you too.

How can we know? What is the difference?

Biblically, contentment is something to be learned. So it is not natural. I’m not sure if that means cynicism or complacent is natural… or maybe we naturally try to control- and it is when we realize things are out of control, out of our control at least, we fall into cynicism or complacency or can choose contentment.

Generally when we speak of contentment we think of peace or happiness or stability. And we usually think of contentment as a general feeling of being at ease despite circumstances. Contentment is a feeling of happiness- though maybe not quite happy- even when circumstances are not ultimate desirable.

Contentment, Complaceny and Cynicsm and perhaps Control are all responses to life, to difficulties, to things not going as planned, to trouble. Or how we deal to life being out of control.

When our dreams don’t happen or we lose or life doesn’t go according to plan and we feel out of control
We may try to control things or become complacent. Or we learn to be content or we become cynical.

It is pretty common to describe old men as cynical – grumpy old men.

And it makes sense.

The more we live this life, the more things have gone wrong. The more evil we’ve seen. The more pain and hurt we have experienced. Of course we have become cynical. The world is broken.

People get sick, people die. Couple gets divorced, families get estranged, friendships fall apart. Marriage is not happily ever after, and all your wildest dreams did not come true.

Even if you worked and worked acheived all your goals, life feels meaningless.

As Solomon concludes in Ecclessastics- vanity, vanity all is vanity. It’s all chasing after the wind.

In the past year i have wondered if i had become complacent or just learned to be content in ministry and life. I have just dealt with it and kept moving. Was i content or had i just become complacent?

Then the other day, I was talking with a friend, and he used the word cynical to describe himself, and it kinda clicked with me – as i processed it with him, i began to see how cynicism has begun shaping my heart.

Contentment, Complacent, Cynicism are all ways we cope with disappointment in life.

Disappointment could be difficulty, but it is different. Difficulty is generally dissappointing, but not always the same either.

So we need to recognize we experience disappointment.

To guard against disappointment there are those who subscribe to the attitude – expectations are your enemy. High expectation = low yield. Low expectation = high satisfaction.

I suppose this is true. But does it really honor life? Is it living in truth? Or is denying part of ourselves?

I’m sure there is some health in having proper expectations. There is no need to set ourselves up for failure or disappointment. But if we continue to set the bar low- we’ll never get very high.

The addage is good however, if you don’t know what your expectations are. As i have led teams i have told them some say “no expectations, but i say know your expectations.”

IF we’re not aware of our expectations, we will be not just be disappointed- but blindsided by them.

We hold onto expectations and don’t realize it like – our family will be healthy, my kids will walk with God if i do the right things, God may not give me a million dollars but He will give enough so we don’t go broke, i will be treated fairly and kindly by others, if i obey God something good will go my way. If I read my Bible and pray and go to church- I will feel close to God.

I digress. Contentment, Complacent, Cynicism are all ways we cope with disappointment in life, when we reconginze we are not in control. So what is the difference?

Contentment focuses on the goodness of God. This turned out (bad/hard/difficult) – but God is still good.

Complacency focuses on our lack of control. This didn’t turn out the way we wanted, what can we do? Nothing.

Cynicism focuses on the broken world. This didn’t turn out the way we wanted, because this world is broken.

All three are actually true. This world is broken and we are not in control. But contentment in the midst of that only happens when we focus on the goodness of God.

Contentment still hopes, still loves.

Cynicsm slowly eats away at our joy and love to others.

Complacency just no longer cares. It is easier to not care anymore- rather than get hurt.

Cynicism and complacency are self-protective measures so we don’t feel hurt, don’t feel disappointed, don’t feel bad about ourselves, don’t feel sad. It masks our disappointment.

One of the easiest ways to see this is in singleness.

When i was in my mid & late 20s i learned to be content. 

There would be some who said “You’ll find someone when you stop looking.”

In college my friend Karen said something like this- “you’ll find someone when you’re not expecting it”, and my friend Matt responded by saying “i’ll just sit here and not expect anything- should be any time now! Not expecting a thing, any time now”

This is not what i mean. Contentment in singleness is not merely stop looking – though it could be – it is contentment in the Lord- in His goodness, in His plan, in His love.

Another said to me – you’re not content, you still want to get married.

Yes, i did! If i didn’t want to get married still, i wouldn’t need to learn contentment. Being content had nothing to do with not caring anymore, but still desiring, but content in God.

I still prayed, still desired marriage, still considered girls and asked girls out- and i still hurt when they rejected me- but i had a peace, a joy, a contentment that came from God. i was able to be content in the relationships God did give me- my strong male friends who cared for me and knew me, my ministry i was able to have, the experiences i got and the initimate relationship with Christ – gave me contentment even as i still longed for marriage. I just gave it to God and trust my future to Him.

On the other hand, some endure singleness ( not that singleness is a disease or the worst thing in the world like It’s a wonderful life or your mom may have you believe – as the wise saying from Hitch says – you’re single, not sick”).  (To this some like to blame the Church for making singleness to be the worst ever, but i think pop-culture is most guilty for this, not the church) – some endure singlness by becoming complacent or becoming cynical.

A complacent person stops caring about getting married and thus shuts others out. A cynical person becomes critical of others, cannot be happy for those who do get into relationships.

Another place we can explore this is in ministry.

Ministry is hard. We share the gopsel with many, and only some believe- others thinks about it, and others don’t and may even mock us. Then those who come to faith- some fall away, some grow slowly.

But in ministry we are taught not to find our identity in the fruit, to not measure success by numbers but faithfulness.
As a team leader, i wanted us to not just celebrate when things go well, but also when we take steps of faith.

But we don’t know how to do that well, and so instead of being content, we easily become complacent.

Complacency is super dangerous because we no longer care about God’s Kingdom, about people’s souls. We should hurt to some degree. We should weep when people turn from God. We should eagerly desire more people to come to Christ, we should ache when people experience injustice.

When we plan an outreach and not many show up- how do we respond?

If we are cynical, we didn’t think anything would happen anyway.
We likely gave lip-service to prayer. We likely were half-hearted in our efforts.

If we are complacent, we don’t care either way. People come – great? People don’t? No big deal.
We have become robots. We fall in line into a system and call it faithfulness, when it is just following mechanisms to say to ourselves we are doing our job. There is no vigor, no joy in us

If we are content, we long for people to come to Christ, we pray earnestly, we expend energy- but our identity, worth or joy is not based on the outcome. If people don’t show up- we are disappointed, we are sad and want to do things differently, but we are trusting in God’s goodness, we continue to seek God in prayer.
I’m not responding with – “We should have prayed more!” “We didn’t do ‘this or that’ enough.” Yes, we feel grief, but we but no we don’t indulge in shame. We give it to God and find our joy and peace Him- we recognize He is in control and He is good.

Sometimes we just need to cope. But what if we could move from coping to contentment?

As i look at my life, there are some things i have become complacent about, some i am rather cynical and perhaps a few where i have learned contentment.

If we are to walk with God for a life-time, and live in this fallen world and to pray diligently- we will face disappointment. How will we respond?

Will we grow old & cold? Will we look at youth and say they’re so naive? Will we stop dreaming, stop asking big? Will we become complacent in love, doing the bare minimum?

Or will be willing to dream, willing to Pray BIG, Love BIG, willing to face disappointment- and learn to be content.

We may stumble and fall many times along the way- but Jesus will always be there to pick us up.

We can learn contentment because we can trust in God’s goodness and wisdom and love- shown to us primarily in the Cross.

When Jesus died on the Cross, it was disappointing to His followers. They thought He was to be the Messiah to save them- but they walked disappointed and Jesus showed up – and showed them how the Messiah must suffer. Satan thought he had thwarted God. People felt despair- but God was working good.

As Joseph told his brothers – what you meant for evil, God purposed for good.

We don’t know what the good is, but we can trust God is working good. And so we can be content.

We won’t just be content, we’ll have to learn it, and we’ll have to choose it. But we don’t just act content.

Contentment is an act of faith, that requires faith. Contentment is fruit of faith.

We can learn to be content, when we learn to trust God. And He produces contentment in us

When we chose to meditate on the goodness of God and trust in God’s wisdom and sovereignty- we can learn contentment – a contentment produced not by human effort, but by God in us.

My best books of 2020

2020 was a different year, I didn’t mind so much. Our life didn’t change too drastically. With 4 kids we rarely go out to eat or to the movies. In some ways, most ways, we were more exhausted and busy.

Still, I was able to read quite a bit. With 2020- i was hoping to read 40 books. I made the goal + 10%! But looking back, not even 20 of the 60+ books I wanted to read!

Some may say I cheated, since there are a number of kids books on my list of 40, but there were also some huge long books. And I didn’t include all the kids books I read. And Harry Potter books are big- and we read 4 of them! I’m not sure how we did that.

2020 has felt long- some of the books I read in the beginning feel so long ago, but the books definitly were influential on my whole year.

Most of the books I read came out a while ago. If I was using categories of new books then Reading while Black by Esau McCully and The Deeply formed life by Rich Villodas are award winners. They have been on a lot of lists and I would highly recommend.

I tried to get more cultured. Those books helped. Reading while Black gives great perspective on how the Bible speaks to the Black experience and exposes how Christianity is not a white man’s religion.
One of my first acts as a team leader was to have the men read The Deeply formed Life together for men’s time. There was some push back to some of the things he said, though I am not quite sure why for most of it.

I started the year reading Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys. It was an interesting book, but it was missing something. It gave me something to think about but wasn’t very convincing- and didn’t seem to be trying to. Trying to navigate culture and Christianity can get tricky but is very important. And reading something from a Native American perspective was good.

I also got to read some Indian authors too. Maybe learn a bit about myself.

Some of the better books were meant for kids, but they held deep meaning and quite powerful.

I even got to read some books by people I know.

Anyway, here are the best books I read and some recommendations

Best books with kids

1. What’s the big deal? by Stanton Jones
   What a great book. It may be scary to talk with your kids about sex, but I think you’ll be glad you did. I picked it up and glanced it- I actually think I could use it with adults too to talk about sex. Soo started reading it with Halle (age 10) and she was really interested in it. I think i will wait to read it with Josiah next year but am looking forward to it. It talks about homosexuality, rated R movies, what if you mess up, why God cares. It is straighforward, grace-oriented, and full of truth.
   
2. Harry Potter books 4-7 by JK Rowling
   I’m glad I watched the movies first because the books are so much better!
3. You can change the world by Jill Johnstone
   26 countries and 26 people groups to pray through with your kids. This copy was pretty old- from 1990. So much changes in 30 years! Some of the language may contain some white savior ideology, but generally good. They try to include a lot about children in these places and make it readable. They have 7 prayer requests so you can pray for one a day, but we just did it all in one day
4. Case Closed by Laura Magaziner
   A choose your own adventure book. Halle started reading on her own too, but I read too, it was fun to read with the kids
5. My first hands on Bible
   I did add some of my own thoughts, but not bad. The stories are directly from the Bible and the questions are pretty good.
6. Halle takes a stand by Paul Tripp
   A book with a main character named Halle- who is a hedgehog- which Halle loves, written by one of my favorite authors and about a subject Halle needs. I had to get it.
7. The book with no words by BJ Novak

Rereads, ministry reads

1. Ultimate Road Trip
2. Gospel Centered life

I’m not sure how to rate these because they were rereads, but good books to help me and ministry and great to go through with students.

interesting/influential but not my favorites

1. Rescuing the Gospel from the Cowboys by Richard Twiss
2. The wounded heart of God by Andrew Sung Park
3. The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper

A lot of good stuff in here. At points in the beginning I loved it, but then it left lacking in the end. Still, though I gave it lower ratings, I think they are good to read.

Here is all the books I read via good reads
Apologies to Jackie Hill Perry for Gay Girl, Good God, I read it long ago, maybe it belongs on the list, and to John Mark Comer for Ruthless Elimination of Hurry among some other good books. In previous year I read a lot I didn’t like all that much but I liked a lot this year.

I am not including the kids books above in my top 12, but some are better than these below, that said
Top 12 books of 2020

12. Revolution in world missions by KP Yohanan
This is an Indian author. His view on spending cracks me up because I relate so much, but he can be extreme. I guess some Indians question him. But I think he make a big challenge and speaks of the importance of empowering local believers to build up the church and giving to the mission

11. Understanding the coconut generation
Helps me understand a bit of myself. I relate as the 2nd generation seeking to find my identity.

10. Decisive by Chip Heath
It took me a while to read, but still enjoyable and helpful in thinking about decision making. One big take away- expand choices and narrow choices

9. Them by Ben Sasse
A needed book, an interesting book

8. Galatians for you by Tim Keller
God used Galatians in my life quite a bit over the summer. I didn’t immediately enjoy this book but as I continued i found it helpful

7. 3D Gospel
What may have been best of this little book (Which i read as a pdf on my computer) was the test it gave for power/fear vs shame/honor vs guilt/obedience culture. The culture Test is free and not necessarily affiliated with the book, but I lump it together, so that’s a big reason I recommend it. We discussed our results as a team, which was quite interesting!

6. The Common Rule by Justin Whitmel Early

I met Justin Early during my time in East Asia. When I saw him promoting the common rule, I had no idea it would be a popular book- then i saw people quoting it on social media and in Church.
The concepts are pretty simple- though I didn’t manage to follow perfectly. It was written humbly and practically and was a great read!

5. Deeply formed life by Rich Villodas

I mentioned some above, but I like this book because he goes thru 5 main ideas for formation- one chapter is the heart issue, why it is important, and the next is practical. It is also one of the few books on spiritual formation written by a person of color. I discovered Rich Villodas as others posted his quotes on social media- and quite like him. He pastors a multi-cultural church with people of various convictions. I thought the book was great!

4. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

The book is hillarious, and he went to Purdue (At least for a little bit). I read some to my kids and they cracked up. Other parts they didn’t quite get, but man was so relatable.
Not only was it funny, it was actually a good parenting book. It will be one of my all-time favorites.
And I too am fat.

3. Reading while Black  by Esau McCulley

It was Christianity Today’s book of the year. Some say it should be required reading at seminaries. The book starts out a bit heady, but gets more personal and practical. I underlined quite a bit. He looks at history and the Bible, shows how the Bible speaks to the life experience of the Black community and how the Black community can understand and interpret Scripture because of their experience.

2. Center Church by Tim Keller

What a book! You know I love Keller, and this is the best I read. HE goes so in depth in the Gospel and its implications. IT gives great helps for ministry and evangelism that is both faithful to the Gospel and effective in ministry. Should be a must read for people in ministry- at least the first section.

1. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
I listened to the audio book narrated by Stevenson himself which was amazing. I tried reading it earlier and it was so hard to read all the injustice. Listening helped. It is so much better than the movie. The book tells the story of the movie, but much better along with other stories Stevenson encounters as well as his own experience moving into fighting for those on death row. He alternates chapters between the overarching story and then chapters that give a broader picture of injustice and hope through other stories peppered with facts and hope. The book is challenging. The book is encouraging. The book is an adventure. And the book is full of facts. And listening to the Audio makes it so much better

nightly reflection Aug 14

It’s been a few days since i’ve offered a nightly reflection… i doubt many are reading this anyway… maybe some day we’ll look back at it though…

i guess the sleepless nights have caught up with us… At first as we had people prepare us meals and i had paternity leave, i thought this is like a vacation and unnecessary… but the first few days of not sleeping consistently one can deal with it, but it adds up and becomes exhausting… meanwhile i go right back to sleep or even sleep thru at nights while Soo still gets up… oh if baby is not sleeping i stay with her… and i begin to get bad feelings… but as soon as she falls asleep, she is so cute and sweet again! (It really is much like the friends episode where the guy is like they are so cute then freaks out bc he thinks they may wake up!).

anyway… even though we haven’t slept the greatest and we’ve had to deal with some car troubles- including someone smashing in the window of our van-  life has been pretty good. i feel like i’m in a good mood most of the time and i really enjoy all of our kids (tho one sometimes drives me crazy).

There have been fun moments that makes life feel like a sitcom… i was doing reading homework with Josiah – and he reads one line- then goes off on a dissertation on the topic, then reads another line and remembers something at school, then another line and tells a 5 minute story… 20 minutes of reading took over an hour! but it was fun.

the kids have been up & ready for school, have made themselves breakfast a few times, they’ve been great.

 

Today i am thankful for…

1. our church who has made us meals, prayed for us and cared for us well
2. all those parents who adopt kids and love difficult kids
3. the opportunity to be involved in ministry and experience God and see Him work

Things to pray for/about

1. Pray for incoming freshman at Ball State (and all over)- for Christians to get connected to community, and for God to stir the hearts of others and lead them to Christians who will explain the Gospel clearly to them
2. for returning student leaders to connect intimately with God and eager to love new students and proclaim Christ
3. good weather the next few days as we meet students and engage in activities with them
4. wisdom in our planning for the semester – that we would follow the direction of the Spirit, join God where He is at work
5. wisdom for our family as we transition to a family of 6
6. for our physical health
7. many people to come to Christ and grow in faith this semester and in the next few weeks

 

the one with barriers to the mission field

There is a Harvest. So why aren’t there more laborers?

Much like any problem there isn’t just one answer – unless that answer is: Sin or Lack of Faith.

But even in saying sin- there are so many facets to it.

Not all the reasons are sinful. In fact, we must conclude God is sovereign over the sending of missionaries, since He is the Lord of the Harvest- so indeed it’s not just sin, but God’s sovereignty.

Which I suppose should bring much encouragement to us- that even our sinfulness cannot thwart God’s good plans.

This does not mean however, that we should be callous or indifferent-  we still ought analyze. True, perhaps God wants to raise up leaders from within nations or within churches. This still does not excuse us to be lazy.

But do all Christians need to consider the reasons – or just those who are pastors and mobilizers?

Well, I do believe the command to go make disciples of all nations was given to each of us who follow Jesus – so we should be committed to seeing His kingdom grow, His harvest gathered, and thus committed to developing and sending laborers.

If we are going to pray for laborers, we should know what to pray about.

So what keeps people from the mission?
There be more or others, but this is what i’ve found.

1. Lack of surrender
2. Sexual sin
3. Lack of support
4. Debt
5. Parents

First of all, it is apparent that many refuse to be involved in the mission. The task is difficult, requires sacrifice, leaving comfort zones, and dealing with the following on the list as well. It is much easier to say you’ll pray about it, than to get on the plane (though it may be easier to go than to be devoted in prayer).
Faith is weak. And idols of self and comfort rule. This affects a potential goer and a potential sender.
This of course is fairly obvious, but not to be overlooked.

If we are going to mobilize others to go, the first step is to raise their view of God, to capture their hearts with the glory of God, to embolden them with the power of the Gospel.

We can’t just call people to surrender or to stop being selfish. We need them to see God for who He is. His love, His compassion, His power, his glory.

Reality is for most of us our view of God is too weak, your understanding of the grandeur of the glory of God is too small, and your grasp of the Gospel is too limited.
You do not need to be motivated by what you can do, or by numbers- you need to see who God is and what He is doing and what He has done in your life.

Truly, one of the best ways to see that: is to surrender your life and get involved in the mission by sacrificially giving, earnestly praying, and/or getting yourself immersed in the mission by going.

 

2. Now sin may be keeping many from the mission field- but not only does it keep people from going, it disqualifies.

There are many out there who have the motivation, the passion, the drive, the desire to go- but even drive and desire can be disqualified.
Just because there is a great need, does not mean we should just let anyone go.
The Missionary goes to harvest field, but also a battle field. They will face temptation and frustration. Sin will destroy them.

Now, all missionaries who go will still be battling temptation, and will sin. All sin affects us. But there are some that have greater impact and hold a stronger hold on someone’s heart. Namely sexual sin.

Sexual sin does seem to have greater emphasis in the Bible. I Thes 4:3. This is the will of God- your sanctification. Flee sexual immorality.
Sex is a gift from God. One that allows us to experience intimacy and joy. And thus it also perverts.

And unfortunately right now, sexual sin is rampant. It is widley accepted and highly addictive.
Sexual sin is disqualifying more and more of our young men from serving in ministry. And increasing among women as well.
Some may want to make standards lower and show more understanding to the boy who was exposed to porn at 10 and addicted by 12.
And sure, one may have made big strides. But we can’t allow our need to compromise standards of holiness and health.

We need to pray against the stranglehold sexual sin is holding over young men & women. We need to be aware and help them attack it. We need to start young and not wait until it is addiction. We need to confront the sin, we need to comfort the soul. Again, we need the power of the Gospel.

Unfortunately, many men have great skills, great knowledge of theology- yet, they don’t strive against sin in this area. It is often excused, accepted, or avoided.  If you are developing or discipling others- you need to address this issue early and often. And if you are considering full-time ministry, you need to take sin seriously.

 

3. Even still, some are sexually pure, yet money is an issue. Every year potential missionaries work on raising support only to fall short of their need and unable to go. Many more have to leave the field because they cannot sustain life on the amount they are given.

The church has become stingy. Always questioning how the missionary uses money, while feeling freedom to spend money as they choose, because they earned it.

But the reality is- the missionary doesn’t really like asking for money.
Many in fact will not go into the mission for that very reason – they do not want to raise support. They do not want to have to ask for money- it makes them feel weak or insecure or useless. “I should be able to support myself” “I am supposed to support my family.”
Many look at missionaries as mooches.
And who wants to feel that way?

Rather than face ridicule or rejection- many will choose to not go at all.
Others attempt, but with little result.

The money we have indeed is not ours, but God’s. It is not earned, but given by his grace. But these truths often seem like platitudes that carry little weight.
Will we raise support by faith? Give by faith?

Perhaps one will say that one can be involved in the mission without being a missionary. I agree. However, there is a need for people who can devote their time and energy into the mission. And there is a big difference between doing missions and doing evangelism. We need people who will go and take the Gospel to all corners of the world and into the darkest places of people’s hearts. And that takes concentrated effort.
Related but different is the issue of debt.
Because money is needed, when debt is involved, then the opportunity is further reduced.

Within Cru, the biggest reasons applicants are disqualified tend to be sexual sin or debt.

College students in the US are accruing more and more debt every year.
Some of that is frivolous spending. Much of it is rising costs of universities.

If you are a college student and you are thinking about doing full-time ministry, you need to consider how much debt you are incruing. This may mean taking a summer not to go on a summer mission, but to get a high-paying job to pay off some debt. It may mean looking to do some ministry at job that also pays you money.
It is sad, but you could work on your walk with the Lord, develop ministry skills, do well in school, have a fruitful ministry and then not be able to serve in a full-time capacity because of debt.

As a word of encouragement however, I am seeing more and more people work a few years, pay off debt and then go into full-time ministry. You do not need to make that decision to go into full-time ministry right after college. You can work a few years, pay off debt and then go into the field. Keep your vision fresh by giving while trying to pay off debt and being actively involved in prayer and connected to those in the field.

 

Lastly, sadly one of the biggest barriers to the mission field are parents. This article calls it the biggest barrier to the mission field. And they may be right.

Many support missionaries, celebrate them, pray for them – but would never want their own kids to go.
Some of that is reasonable, who wants their children to move far away or go to a place the do not know or understand. This is part of walking by faith.
If you’re wanting to go to the mission field and your parents show concern- say thanks, and engage in a conversation. Show respect to your parents, follow the Lord.

The call to mission doesn’t just affect the one going- but also the family, and also the givers, the pray-ers, the church.

Barriers are abounding, but God is bigger.
Regardless, God continues to work. Those of us who will engage in the mission will enjoy His glory.

Lets’s pray for a greater view of God, a turning away from sin, a church that supports & sends, God’s provision and more faith.

I hope you will get involved in His mission by developing laborers, sending, giving, praying, going, for your own growth and the glory of God among all peoples.

The Harvest field

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest ‘? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

When we think about the state of the world, we may see all the sin, all the terribleness, all the falleness. It seems like the world is becoming more and more distant from God, growing colder and colder toward God. And society is becoming more and more godless.

Watching the news, hearing about kids and their destructive sinful behaviors and patterns – it is easy to become discouraged and become hopeless.
Yet, I believe there is a harvest out there.

Jesus said “Look!”
“Lift up your eyes and look
the fields are ripe for harvest.”

Another place He says “The Harvest is Plentiful.

There is fruit. There are people out there ready to receive the Gospel, ready to follow Jesus. ready to give their lives to God.

Here are a couple stories:

A girl made the decision to invite Christ into her life recently… she shared…how she’s believed in God her whole life, despite teachers and society telling her that God isn’t real.

She said that before believing in Jesus, it was like the lights in a room were on, giving small spaces of light in the darkness of life. These were the God’s laws of the universe – like gravity, chaos, or creation. They showed her small parts of the picture. But after being introduced to Jesus, the living Word of God, it was like the sun began to shine in her life and she could see everything clearly.

…she wrote accepting Jesus into her life was the best thing that happened to her this year.

What an amazing story. This semester in East Asia, the two teams have seen close to 50 people make decisions for Christ!

Another girl is an international student here at Ball State.
While in Asia she became curious about God. She had heard of the bible but never read it.
After arriving here, she came to a few of our events and asked one of our staff

“Can you explain Christianity to me?”

After a three hour conversation, she gave her life to Christ. She has continued to grow in faith, learning to forgive others and falling in love with God’s Word. She attened the winter conference and is excited to reach out to others on campus.

A HARVEST.

This work is not a shot in the dark.
It is not about us being masters of ministry.
It is not a work that results from a lot of hard work.

God produces the harvest. He is at work in people’s lives.

The only thing missing are the laborers. He is working in people’s hearts, revealing Himself, drawin them to Himself.
And He uses us to go and share the message of Jesus, and people are responding.

The problem is not that people are too sinful to follow Jesus.
The work of God is greater than their sin!

The problem is we believe the sinfulness of man is too wicked for God to work!
So we either don’t do anything or we rely on ourselves and do too much.

But the good news is Jesus has already come. He has seen and continues to see the needs of the lost- those who are like sheep without a shepherd. And He did an amazing work, so they can be saved, so they can be in a relationship with God and transformed.

He has already done the work.
And the Holy Spirit is at work in people, convicting of sin and revealing Christ.
And He tells us the Harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

So how do we respond?

1. We believe God’s Word is true and we act that way. Believing there are people out there ready to receive the Gospel
2. We pray for more laborers
3. We develop laborers & send laborers
4. We act as a laborer

Notice Jesus’ command was not go do something about it – but to pray.
And what does He tell them to pray?
Not for the people to change but for people to go.

Who needs to change?
The Christian, the one who follows Jesus needs to change- to go into the harvest, to be part of God’s work in the world.

We may look at the lost and focus on the need.
Jesus looks at the lost and focuses on the harvest.

Since God is at work in people’s hearts, and since Christ has already done the work for salvation. We can go out in confidence to share the Gospel, and we can pray boldly for more laborers for the harvest field. We need to repent of our unbelief and trust in the power of the Gospel and pray and take steps of faith.

Next week, Universities across the US will begin having Spring breaks – and thousands of students will go to PCB to party (get drunk).
But there to meet them will be hundred of christian students sharing the Gospel. And every year hundreds of students surrender their lives to Christ. They will understand that the devil comes to steal and destroy- that the things of this world do not satisfy and leave them even more empty- and that Christ came to give them life and life abundantly.

Others will go to East Asia and other parts of the world, choosing to use their spring break to take the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the world.

Please join in praying for students to go be laborers in the harvest field, and pray for them as they go, that many will hear the Gospel, and many will turn from their idols to the living and true God!