Mission Where You Live

I have had the privilege to travel all over the world doing mission work. I’ve lived in Africa and the South Pacific. I been to Croatia, Jamaica, France, Scotland, Honduras, and Mexico. It has been my honor to get to know the folks that live in these areas and bring Jesus with me. But, living missionally is not only about how far you go with the message of Jesus; it’s also right where you live.

Jesus told us to “Go and tell” in Matthew 28 but in Acts 1, Jesus says, “You’ll be my witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.” He told his disciples to start right where they were and that means for most of us in our home, with our extended family and our next door neighbor.

So we ask the question, who lives with you? Some of the people who live with you are not believers. When you read John 1, we discover Andrew went to get his brother, Peter, to introduce him to Jesus. Some of us have prodigal children. Some of us have prodigal spouses. You live in your home with these folks that you dearly love. Yet, we believe it might be ineffective to share Jesus with them. I’ve had conversations with people who respond, “But Tim, you don’t know my grandpa or my spouse or my neighbor. They are stubborn and don’t think they need anyone.”

I’d say continue to pray for the right opportunity to share Jesus. Pray for softer hearts. Pray for patience. Pray for boldness as you interact with family and friends. Andrew Murray, a South African pastor and writer in the 1800s says, “Beware of your prayers, above everything of limiting God.” We know, we serve the God of the impossible.

The second question is, who lives near you? I’m reminded research tells me we are more connected than at any other time in human history yet as so lonely. I have 1000s of friends on social media but not many of them are close friends. Our current culture has our porch now in the back yard, surrounded by a fence and the only way to get there is through a garage that I can open and shut with a remote control. In other words, my house is arranged so I don’t have to interact with any of my neighbors.

So, you must be intentional. Get outside. Get to know your neighbors. Bring them home-baked goodies. Help them after a storm to clean up their yard. Know their names. Smile and wave when you see them. As a follower of Jesus, you want them to know, they are welcomed in your space. Be purposeful and create space this year to invite them into your life by doing a cook out for your street in your driveway or a pool party for all the kids in the neighborhood or create the first ever 4th of July parade for all the neighbors to join in.

Now, how will you do either of these things? By asking, who lives in you? If you are a baptized believer then God’s Holy Spirit lives in you and it’s through the power of that Spirit you’ll be bold. That’s what Paul tells us in Romans 8:11. Check it out. Look, Jesus said, “The world will know you are my disciples by the way you love…” So make this year different. Show the love of Jesus starting with your family and your neighbors. You can do it with God’s help. Blessings on your journey.

Be Bold.

No question you and I have done things in bold fashion before but then decided later to be quiet about it. Maybe it was kissing that one girl in high school or toilet papering the principle’s house or stealing something from grandma. We were bold in the moment but reserved afterwards.

My prayer is that, as followers of Jesus, we will be bold everyday about who Jesus is and what he has done for us in our lives. I’d hope Jesus was so impactful in our lives that we just couldn't stop talking about him and what he’s done and how our lives are so much better with him.

That’s what happened in Acts 3-4 with Peter and John. They had healed a crippled man in Jerusalem but then were arrested for it. They spent the night in jail for talking about Jesus. But we all realize, you can try to silence people but you’ll never quiet the gospel of Jesus Christ!

The morning after Peter and John’s arrest, they are standing before the entire weight of the religious and civil authorities of the entire Israel nation. They are being asked by what power and who’s name have you healed this cripple man? Peter replies, “The Powerful Name of Jesus.”

Paul tells us in Colossians 1:15-18, Jesus is so powerful that everything we know about and don’t know about was made through Jesus and for Jesus. That it’s Jesus that holds together the entirety of the cosmos. That’s the Savior we serve and love. He’s our brother and our Lord.

The Gospel continues to mesmerize the world. The Bible continues to be the number one selling book of all time. See, trying to stop the gospel story is like trying to stop a California wildfire with a water gun. It just is not going to happen.

Peter and John encourage us with their boldness in Acts 4:19-20 when they say no matter what the authorities do, they can never stop talking about what they have seen and heard. They will always talk about Jesus.

Some questions we might ask ourselves right now are: What would give God the glory in my life right now? What should I be doing with my talents and giftedness right now? How can I represent Jesus in my workplace, my friend group, my family? How do I retrain myself to be vocal about Jesus everyday, not just on Sunday?

I also love the encouragement thrown our way in Acts 4:13. It says those who were in power recognized that Peter and John were ordinary men but had been with Jesus. See, that’s me and you. We are ordinary people. You don’t have to be a preacher or pastor. You don’t need a seminary education. You don’t have to be eloquent of speech. God uses ordinary people like me and you to tell the incredible story of Jesus.

And when you say “yes” to Jesus, you realize that Jesus changes everything. He infuses you with his Spirit, his power, his mission. So be bold this year. Create change. Stand out. Cultivate something new. You can do this. You’re on mission…speak loudly. Blessings on the journey.

It's Go Time.

I know I’m giving it away but when my wife and I are at a party or gathering and I’m ready to go, I tug on my left ear lobe. Upon seeing me, she, then, knows I feel it’s time to go. Now, that doesn’t mean we are leaving because she may not be done socializing. But nonetheless, she knows I have had my fill.

Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 28 to “go”. “Go into all the world…making disciples”. He tells them to “go”. And in Acts 1 just before Jesus ascends into Heaven, he tells them again, that they will be his witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.” Jesus is telling us one of our mandates is to go and be a witness for the story of Jesus. Tell people and show people what Jesus has done for us. But the world is a huge place so where do we begin? We start by asking a series of questions.

Who lives with you? When Andrew finds Jesus and knows he’s the Messiah, Andrew goes to find his brother, Peter (John 1:40ff), who will later become foundational in the early church. We first go to the people we live with and call family. So, start where you are planted. We are called to tell our children about Jesus and teach them the Jesus’ way of life. We are called to journey with our spouse and daily tell the story. We have extended family members we love who need to hear from you how Jesus has changed your life. Ask, who lives with me?

Secondly, ask who lives near you? Those living near you include those in your cul-de-sac or on your street. But it also includes those with whom you attend church. We are called to make time for those with whom we do life. So get involved in a ministry like teaching kids about Jesus in a Sunday morning class or leading a small group in your youth group. Get involved on your praise team or in the sound booth. Be a real friend to your neighbors by helping out when they are down and out. Extend hospitality to those around you so they see Jesus in you.

Finally, ask who lives in you? Paul reminds us in Romans 8:11, “That the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that lives in you!” You will not be “going” on your own. Jesus will always be with you. That’s what he said in Matthew 28:20. He tells us to go and he’ll be with us. So don’t be afraid. God’s got this. He’s with you.

So it’s time to shed the “personal space” mentality. It’s time to look around instead of down at our phone. It’s time to create a space of sharing and inclusion. It’s time to go and be a witness for the one who gave you everything…and made you the best version of yourself you could ever be. Blessings on the journey.

Living in Unity.

I played high school football. There were many things I enjoyed and learned by being on a team. One of those pleasures was having the unified backing of my teammates. During a game if you got hit hard or the other team began giving you a hard time, my teammates would come to the rescue. Our unified voice told others we did not stand alone.

The Apostle Paul and Jesus both prayed that as followers of Jesus, we would have one voice and stand together so that the world would know Jesus and the love the Father has for his creation (John 17:20-21, 23; Romans 15:5-7).

Tragically, we have felt many times the enemy is the group of other believers down the street. When in fact, our common enemy is Satan who only wants to kill, steal, and destroy. But if we ever finally lay down that thing we have been carrying all these years (hatred, agenda, unforgiveness) we’d discover that we can do infinitely more for God’s Kingdom together. So, we pray for unity and one voice for Jesus.

We pray for unity because we desperately need each other. Paul tells us in Romans 12:4-5 that like the human body is made up of many parts, so the body of Christ is also made of many parts. We can’t live without our body organs just like we can’t function without the diversity a church brings to the story of Jesus. We belong to one another. Think about the church universal. No matter the skin color, language or name over the door, we all worship the Name above all names, Jesus!

We pray of unity because the world will see God’s love for them. The word Paul uses in Romans 15:7, “accept”, is a word in the original Greek with beautiful imagery. The visual Paul gives us is this: we hug, pull each other in then walk hand-in-hand through life together. Jesus himself told us in John 13:34-35 that the way we love each other is the way the world will know we are his disciples. Jesus didn’t say, “with the right doctrine” or “with the right name on the building”…No! He said, “Your love for each other will point the world to me.”

We pray for unity because we can do infinitely more together than we can do apart. Because of our desire to be known as Jesus followers, together we positively affect churches in two foreign countries. We put Bibles in public classrooms in Eastern European countries. We partner with local para-church organizations to help homeless families get off the street and young couples make better decisions about their unborn baby. We partner with a local Bible translation group who puts the Word of God into the hands of people who have never read the story of Jesus in their local language. I really can’t do that on my own. I need you and you need me.

Acts 2 and 4 remind us of what one voice can do. Followers of Jesus came together to eat, worship, pray, and live. They supported each other and loved each other. Every need was met if you belonged to Jesus.

The truth is, the world is tired of hearing about Jesus…they want to see Jesus. How will they know? By the way we love each other. So, what do you need to change in order to be the follower Jesus prayed for? What thing are you hanging on to that is prohibiting you to be the person Jesus prayed for?

My hope is you will desire to live into Jesus’ prayer and love those who also believe. It’s our turn to roll up our sleeves and show the world the loving Savior you and I have. Blessings on the journey.

How to Share your Faith.

When it comes to sharing your faith, most of us hesitate. It is not because we don’t love our life or being a disciple of Jesus. Usually, it falls into one of three categories.

We just get busy. I mean, life happens. Most of us have no margin in our day to consider how we could share our faith. We hit the ground running in the morning getting kids ready for school with breakfast and sack lunches. After we drop them at school, we go to work and put in a full 8-hour day. Most of the time we don’t finish our work so we take it home with us. Once the kids get home, there’s homework, dinner, soccer practice. By the end of the day, we collapse into bed only to do it all again the next day.

Another is, we don’t want to be known as the weird Jesus-freak. I call them megaphone man. You see them on street corners with a megaphone calling down hate and judgment on people who don’t look like them. We just don’t want to be viewed as weird. I get that.

Finally, we don’t think we know enough about our faith. We think, “If I knew more about Jesus and my faith, I’d share more with the folks I interact with everyday.” But Paul’s prayer in Philemon 1:4-6 would indicate the opposite is true. He says that we share our faith in order to have a deeper understanding of who Jesus is to us.

With that in mind, I want to give you four ways to share your faith that you can do easily…yes, you! All of these ideas are loosely based on biblical stories from our New Testament.

You can be loving but direct. Peter used this approach in Acts 2 when we preached his sermon on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. He told the crowd the good news about Jesus and that they, the Jews, had killed the Messiah. He invited them into a relationship with Jesus. All they needed to do was change and allow Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Now, you can’t have this voice all the time because then you simply turn into megaphone man and you’ll loose your voice.

A second way to share your faith is just to share YOUR story. How did you come Jesus? What did he do for you? You have stories of recovered health, broken addictions and healed relationships. You are a better spouse and parent because of Jesus. You have a more purposeful life because of the Risen Savior.

Third, you can invite people to church. Now, the church is more than just the four walls. There are lots of ways you can let people know about the family of believers you live life with and invite them to come and see how you do life together. Most churches have events like a trunk or treat or a Christmas event you can invite folks to. If you have an online presence on Sunday morning, invite them to check out the livestream before coming to an in-person service.

Finally, you can live a life others want. We all have chaos going on in our life. Whether it’s the loss of a family member, loss of job, dealing with cancer or the effects of COVID, the world is watching to see how Jesus-followers react. When you show joy and peace in your life no matter what is going on, the people around you notice. And they want what you have. It’s your opportunity to let them know, Jesus is the reason you have that joy, peace, and love in your life.

COVID has made it easy for us to sit back and blame the virus for not being active. But it is time we rekindle the fire and discover new ways to share our faith. You can do this with the power of the Holy Spirit living in you. Blessings on the journey.

Breaking Bad.

We all have habits. We typically want to keep and build the good ones and trash the bad ones. As a Christ-follower, I try to be more like Jesus everyday but it doesn’t always work out…frankly, I have never had a perfect day. James says in James 1:21, “Get rid of all filth and evil in your lives and humbly accept God…” I dare say all of us long to do that.

So why is it difficult to stop a bad habit and start new, better ones? Well, good habits are challenging because the payoff is in the future. For example, you want to get in shape so you start running. Right away, you give up sleeping in to get out and run. You pay money for some good shoes. It will be a couple of weeks before you see any real result but two weeks later you feel better, you look better and people are noticing your weight loss.

Bad habits however make you feel better right away and the negative thing is in the future. So, you need to take the edge off, curb an appetite, look cool…you start smoking. Right away, your wishes are granted. But ten years later, the doctor informs you of respiratory issues or even lung cancer.

So we want to make bad habits difficult to do. For any habit, there is always a trigger which leads to an action and then a reward. So we want to remove the trigger in order to begin avoiding the bad habit. There are typically 5 triggers.

Time and place go together. There typically is a place where your habits happen. You don’t overeat at the gym and don’t smoke pot at church. But go to the Super Bowl party, you probably overeat and do some recreational stuff. The party is the place.

There’s also time. You don’t watch porn while at your church small group but you may late at night when your spouse goes to bed. There’s a time when things happen you wish would not.

There are moods when you are vulnerable. So, don’t make decisions when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Moods can create moments when bad habits kick in.

You’ve got moments that trigger bad habits. You have a huge fight with your husband which prompts you to call your closest 3 girlfriends to have a husband-bashing party. The moment is the fight.

Finally, there are people who trigger poor decisions. The people we hang with often shape the habits we have. Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.

Some practical application about making habits difficult. You love hitting the snooze button on the alarm. You want to stop. So you move the alarm clock across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. You find yourself looking at lustful images on your phone. Give your phone to a friend to set parental guides on your phone. Only they have the password. You’re making it difficult to act on habits you want to kick.

And maybe you feel overwhelmed…that you can’t do it. Just take one small step toward making a better decision. God says in Zechariah 4, “He rejoices on the small things” that bring you closer to him… With the power of Jesus in your life, you can overcome. Blessings on your journey.

Big Time.

Right now, we are living in a moment when we all need a kind word or an act of random kindness. Whether you believe in Jesus as the Son of God or not, his message of inclusiveness, grace and mercy is something each one of us can resonate with. His call to a life of selfless service creates a relational atmosphere that we all want to be a part of.

So, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 4 use wisdom as you interact with the world around you. Be wise in your daily interactions. Be observant with the people you come in contact with each day in order to bring Jesus to them.

I am called to be transformed in Christ. Because I’ve said “yes” to the risen Savior, my life is very different than it was before. I become different than the world around me. But many times I get so focused on the noise around me I neglect the need for my behavior and language to be truly transformed. It’s so easy for me to be consumed with the way others are living that I forget I must be transformed first before I can enter God’s story to help transform others.

So Paul says make the most of every day. Thomas Edison said, “Most people miss their opportunity because it usually wears overalls and looks like work.” If a relationship looks like I will have to put some sweat equity in it, I tend to walk away. I mean, usually we love the spotlight. Those big splash moments when the world can see all we are doing for those around us. But most of the time, serving Jesus happens in quiet moments.

We make a difference for Jesus when we help a neighbor when the power is out or give money to help by school lunches for lower income kids on spring break or inviting a single person over for dinner to let them know they haven’t been forgotten. It’s when we offer to buy groceries for the shut in on our street or calling someone who is working through cancer treatments to remind them they are not alone or inviting that newly divorced person to coffee just to let them know they are known and prayed for.

Every single moment is sacred and redeemable to God. It’s more than just Sunday morning. But we tend to think a 30-minute message will fix what we spend six days breaking.

If COVID taught us anything, it was that we needed to slow down. These past 12 months reminded us that we’ve been running from one appointment to the next and missing opportunities to share Jesus with others. Make every moment count.

Equally, let your conversations be full of grace. Today, we tend to keep our face in our smart phone using our social apps to talk to people. Paul calls us to actually talk to people even when it’s uncomfortable. We have lost the art of conversation and now simply create monologue to file our opinion in public space. We need to listen more and talk less. We need to offer grace to others and extend the benefit of the doubt. We need to be more forgiving and less offended.

See, Jesus called us to be different. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, he says that we are salt and light. What does salt do? It brings flavor to what your cooking. It tenderizes the meat. So we in our lives should bring flavor to the interactions we engage in every single day. We should be tenderhearted toward those with whom we encounter daily. Make the most of every opportunity. Blessings on your journey.

Standing Firm.

As I get older I realize that its no good being passive. It's not a Godly attitude or stance to take. Passiveness in the face of evil or the enemy is plain wrong. It’s time we stand firm as followers of Jesus in the example he gave us and how he’s called us to live each day. Don’t let fear quiet you down but live out loud for the cause of Jesus.

We always need to remember that we already have the victory, in all aspects of our lives. God reminds us in His word that the sacrifice on the cross made by Jesus brings us spiritual and physical blessings.

In the Old Testament we have the great section in Isaiah prophesying about the Messiah and what his sacrifice will do for us.

The Prophet Isaiah reminds us in Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”

In case some wish to leave it as simply historical His Word repeats the same in the New Testament in 1 Peter where Peter repeats, “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.”

It is simply not possible to deny that Christ has brought us healing in all aspects of our life both spiritual and physical. It is in him that we find wholeness and peace, centeredness and clarity. We have already won the victory in Christ Jesus. We have overcome because He was able to overcome. We need to remember that and to claim it, to command victory into our situations, always! Blessings on your journey!

You Hit the Jackpot!

1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV): "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Understanding your identity before and after faith in Christ is paramount to proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called us.It's a true rags to riches story wrought in the mercy of God. 

The mercy of God is a wonderful thing.He doesn't give us what we deserve. We deserve judgment but God has given us an opportunity through His Son to obtain an inheritance beyond belief.He has called us out of darkness into marvelous light.You are chosen to be His children and if children then heirs (Rom 8:17), a royal priesthood called to be holy for He is holy.As we live in the identity Christ died to give us we become testimonies of His excellence. 

Live out your true identity Christian.Your Father in heaven owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps 50:17).You have been promised all that He has and far more than you even know.Don't live defeated!You have been given a heritage through Christ of honor and valor, live it out.Be fierce with your love and selfless in your service. This is who God made you to be!

So, live as though you know exactly who you are and that you’ve been chosen to be a child of the Most High God. Live with that smile on your face making those you’re around wonder what you are up to and never put your identity in anything that perishes but in the one who calls you his own. Blessings on the journey!

Sometimes we say we want one thing, but end up doing something different. That’s what happened to McDonald’s (the hamburger giant) in 1991. The public wanted a healthier menu item so they came up with the McLean. It was cheese burger that was 91% fat free and made up of seaweed. The public said they wanted healthy but continued to eat Big Macs. The McLean became the McFlop.

More than we hope, we live in the gap of our intention and action. What we say we want to do we don’t always get done. We want to save money but “life” happens and we spend. We want deep friendships but we don’t make the time for memories. We want a deeper spiritual life but we don’t join a small group or do our daily Bible reading or attend on a Sunday morning.

As we reflect on King Josiah of Judah who reigned about 604BC, we discover he focused on God not moving to the left nor the right. At the end of his life the text says there was not a greater king before him or after him in Judah. His story can be found in 2 Kings 22-23. So, how did he accomplish that?

Like Josiah, we have to understand the power of God’s Word and read it for ourselves. We must allow the words of God to transform us and change us from the heart out. Josiah had a profound respect for God’s Word. We must elevate God’s Word to guide us and coach us on how to live. Josiah looked at culture through the Word of God to see what aligned with how to live. If it didn’t align, Josiah moved it out of the way.

Josiah also went very public with his commitment and conviction about who God was in his life. Some of us live in the gap of wanting to follow God but hesitating. Sometimes, that’s called being on the fence. Well, Satan owns the fence. Josiah tore down all the idols in Judah so the people could worship the one true God. While we don’t bow down to a physical altar, we all have idols in our life that we need to tear down as well. God has a lot of competition.

So, you and I have to deal with the distractions that keep us from fully focusing on God and embracing his Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes those distractions are innocent. Our kids can be the excuse we are not involved in God’s plan for our life. Not allowing our comfort to be interrupted could be the thing we worship. All the social media and digital media can be the thing that pulls us to the left or right.

Did you know the average person looks at their phone 50 times a day? 40% of smart phone users say they feel lost if they are away from the phone for only an hour. 30% of married couples say their smart phone has taken away intimacy in their marriage. We have a desire to connect to God but there are idols that get in our way.

The opposite of intentional is accidental. Don’t live an accidental life. Live on purpose for Jesus. This holiday season is a perfect opportunity to think about how you can reconnect to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We too could have a responsive heart, a humbled life, and an outward life style that shows we serve a risen savior and him only.

May you feel the strength of the Spirit in your life. May you embrace the relationship God wants to have with you. May you live on purpose to lift up the Name of Jesus. Blessings on your journey!