Snakes and doves

16"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove...

21-23"When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don't quit. Don't cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you've run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived...

26-27"Don't be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don't hesitate to go public now.

28"Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

Matthew 10:16-28, The Message

Yeah, I want to sign up for this. This is not for sissies, not for a bunch of "girlie girls." This is not for those who desire to "make nice," who want people to like them, who are easily intimidated.

It is about truth and light and loving those people, as Christ would. It is about knowing when to pursue relentlessly in the face of huge obstacles, and when to retreat and shrug our shoulders. But never to back down. And certainly never to deny Him.

Easy to write as I sit here at my desk at church. But it is gut-wrenching to be standing in your mom's kitchen, eye to eye with her, and DOING it.

How to be like a snake and a dove? How to embrace the fine qualities of both: cunning wisdom, and also inoffensive love? And at the same time to reject the bitter sting of the snake and the weakness of the dove?

The Message of Christ is truth, it is good news to save, but not all will recieve it. When we are rejected, it is easy to take it personally!! "I didn't do that right, at the right time, in the right way." Or, we say it is the other person, "I need to reject and give up on them, and never speak of Christ again to them because they are rejecting Him."

Maybe some of that is true. But God can use all our mistakes. He is a BIG God! We cannot mess up so bad that He cannot redeem it. And people may be rejecting His gospel today, but we should not limit the power of the Holy Spirit, Who can continue to repeat our words of truth and love to this person and make him more open to hear it again on another day.

So with the empowering of the Spirit, given to us when we embraced Christ as Lord and Savior, we have the shrewdness, the gentleness and the courage to do His work, always, with our head on His chest, hearing His heartbeat, with our hand in His, allowing Him to direct us.

It will be hard, messy, dirty, dangerous even.

But He is with us. Always. To the End.

Be on your way

When you enter a town or village, don't insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.

When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don't welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don't make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they'll be mighty sorry—but it's no concern of yours now.

Matthew 10:11-15 MSG

It's not about you. It is not your message. It is the message of God through His Christ that we bring. It is His Message, His Gospel, His peace that we bring.

It's not about you. It is about them. If we are courteous, gentle and respectful, they are held responsible for how they receive Christ's Message, not us. We do not have to argue, challenge, plead, or beat ourselves up and feel guilty if things do not work out as we plan.

Our responsibility is to go and speak. When and how Christ uses our work is not up to us, it is in His divine and perfect plan.

His Message has power! Focus on Christ, worship Christ as Lord of your life. Devote yourself to being a student and a follower of His Will and His ways. Then, if someone asks about your Christian hope, you'll be ready to explain it.

But by all means GO! Go to the houses, and if they will listen, speak. And whether they hear and turn in your presence or if they reject you, Christ peace is yours.

If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath.

1 Peter 12-16 MSG

You are the equipment

Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.

Matthew 10:9-10

Last night I stuffed letters for Donna. She is going to Cambodia for a missions trip. Funny to come up on this passage this morning after helping her with her fund raising campaign last night.

But Donna needs a fund-raising campaign. She is at the end of a seminary MDiv program and, as part of that, is traveling to Cambodia for a missions trip. She iis required by her school to raise a specific amount of funds. She is also going to training classes for the trip, and will be doing the medical stuff to prepare herself. She has asked us to pray for her. It's a big deal, we are all expecting great things and I am excited for her.

So what's the point?

Last night I got to minister to Donna, to help her minister to others. I sat in my room with my folding tray and folded and stuffed and labeled. I did not have to go anywhere. I did not need special equipment. I did not need to raise funds to do this.

Our ministry can begin where we are with what we have, all it needs is a willing heart and a vision to see God's hand in what you are doing. Jesus is well pleased with Donna's diligent, passionate pursuit of her studies to prepare her for His plans in her life. Jesus wants to encourage her and bless her. Last night, it was an honor to for Christ, the Lord of Glory, to use my hands towards this end.

By all means, raise funds and go oceans away if He is leading you. But if He is not, He still needs you. In your own room. With your own hands, you can be used to be His instrument of blessing if you let Him.

Let Him.

Stay in your neighborhood

Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.

Matthew 10:5-8 MSG

Begin where you are, Jesus tells us.

This weekend we met Korey and Jen. Orginally from Pennsylvania, currently living in Maryland with four children, all under the age of 7, they are considering moving to New Jersey so that Korey can pursue the desire Jesus put in his heart, and that is to pastor youth. That is our image of someone in ministry, totally sold out, willing to travel, go where God calls.

But for some of us, Jesus calls us to stay home. Begin where you are, to those around us, our families, our co-workers, our friends, our neighbors. Those people who believe but purhaps do not really understand that the Kingdom of God is here, not in some far away place, in some far-away time. We do not have to pack up our children, leave our familes or drag them with us to minister. We can do it here. Right in our own back yard.

There are plenty of people here, lost, confused, sick, spiritually and emotionally dead. Christ has given us the power to heal them, to comfort them, to encourage them, yes, in some cases raise the dead. We must not shy away from hopeless cases, hopeless people, because we know the God of all hope.

Tell them, bring them, raise them, touch them, kick them if you have to. Jesus has commanded us and given us His power, and best of all, His presence. We have been given much by Jesus, our life spiritually and eternal. So we should freely give.

Called and Empowered

from Matthew 10 (MSG)

Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.

In a few weeks, our Called Aside Bible Study will tackle the issue of spiritual gifts. As I consider this, Father, You have led me to where your Son initiated this phenomenon.

Here’s how it worked.

First, He selected His disciples. There were many who followed Jesus, but not all were called. And even among the called, it wasn’t that they were perfect, or even going to be true to Him. We know how the story ends. One betrays Him in the end. But even Judas was called. The point: these were not perfect men. They were called men.

Second, He empowers them. He gives them the power of the Spirit of God, mighty power and authority over the forces of evil, power to heal the physical, emotional and spiritual wounds. This is a power only God has and only God can give. But give it He does to these mere men. God continues to give this power today. We call this power, spiritual gifts.

Third, Jesus gave them this power immediately after He called them. There was no trial or waiting period, to see if this was going to work out. There was no study time for these men. They already had everything they needed. Later, we see that when Saul was called, he went into seclusion for a time to allow the Lord to minister to him and teach him. But that was not what happened here. These men had seen the Lord, and that was enough. However, as we shall see, detailed instructions follow.

Fourth, the power is for others, not for them. It is not for their fame, fortune and glory. It is to minister to others, to comfort, heal, encourage and empower others. The power is not to be used to master others, but to be their servant. It is for God’s glory and for the expansion of His kingdom.