On Mission

When I was a kid, I always thought that missionaries were people that went to far away places to tell people about God and to do good works for the people of far away lands.
If we listen to what Paul writes, we (Christians) are all just travelers in a foreign land and this place is not our home, so I guess we all could be missionaries.

I say "could be" because -- let's face it, we are not all telling people about God and doing good works for the people we encounter.
There are quite a few that are happy to talk about God, but fail to show the character of God in their actions.
And there are many that do good works but never teach or talk about God.
As followers of Jesus, we are to do both.

I get it.
I know that it is sometimes difficult to be that person -- the one that always lives life as a follower of Jesus. I don't think that we always have to bring every conversation, every interaction with others back to Jesus.
But being a Christian isn't supposed to be what we are and following Jesus isn't what we do.
Being a follower of Jesus should be who we are.
We should be becoming more like Him. It is the natural progression of following Him. I know that there are some that will cringe at my saying it, but we should be evolving into a person like Jesus.

This morning I get to go and share this simple message with others at a church in Blue Eye MO. It's kind of cool that God let's me do this. I don't think that going to preach really counts for sharing the gospel in a personal way. I think that preaching in churches is more about encouraging and instructing others to share the gospel in personal relationships.

I am thankful that I get to do this.
Truthfully, I think that is fun.
Really.
I get a lot of enjoyment from encouraging people to take the simple message "God loves you and Jesus died for you" to the people they do life with.

And it is a message that I want to share with you today.
It's true!
God loves you!
Jesus died for you!

John <><