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.

Focus on Telling your Story.

I love watching the Amazing Race reality show. Couples are pitted against each other in a race around the world. Many times, they are asked to go to a city, climb the highest building and look for a clue on the ground level. They are laser-focused in their observations once on top of the building. There are lots of distractions with traffic, a sea of humanity, other buildings but they focus on finding that flag.

Jesus is the same way with us. His focus is finding us and bringing us home. We belong to him. We are his. And that takes a selfless character…a person who is focused on others rather than self.

Martin Seligman, a well-known psychologist whose an expert on happiness has done research on the subject and found, “We think what will make us happy is focusing on ourselves…we actually become happier by focusing on other people.” I love it when science proves what Jesus has already taught us.

Jesus was a great story teller and in Luke 15, he tells three in a row to make a point. The three stories show Jesus sees you, saves you, and celebrates you. But in the first story, the shepherd (that’s Jesus) goes out to find the lost sheep. That’s focusing on someone else over your own needs and wants. He leaves the bulk of the group and goes out to find the one sheep that has wandered away. Once he finds that sheep, he lifts it up and brings it home. Then, he throws a party.

So what does this mean for us if we are called to imitate him. After all, we are his disciples and disciples want to look like their teacher. I believe it calls all of us to focus on the people in front of us and discover who has wandered and who needs Jesus in their life. Our call is to tell the story of Jesus and the story of how Jesus changed our lives forever.

As followers, we want to go and seek. Our desire is that others should also have the life that only Jesus can provide. So, who in your life do you know needs Jesus? Who do you know needs hope for a better tomorrow? Who do you know needs a companion that will walk with them until they come home to the shepherd?

Discover ways to share your story. Find ways to get connected to reveal Jesus’ story. Stories are powerful and it’s time to use our story for the glory of God. Blessings on the 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.

Always On Mission.

We have all been on trips. Vacations, trips to the lake, and to see a relative in another state. And in the process we usually need some kind of map to get there. Back in the day, I used a big Altas map and we did the journey looking at a paper map. Today, just plug in the destination to Google maps and it figures all that out for you.

Acts 1, Jesus is going back to heaven and he’s meeting with the disciples to commission them and encourage them to witness everywhere for the cause of Christ. Just like he calls us to witness wherever we are. We are always on mission no matter where we go.

So let me encourage you to always be present. Jesus has passed the torch to us as his followers to reveal the light to those around us in a dark world. Many times, we wait until the moment we can have a “big splash” but the truth is Jesus is present in all the small things we do to be like him every single day. We are able to live out that calling because the Holy Spirit lives within us. It’s in his power that we live everyday to the fullest.

I want us to be prayerful. That first century church was always in prayer. As you read through the book of Acts, the church was constantly in prayer for guidance and wisdom. So this summer, our prayer needs to be that God would open our eyes to see the world as He sees it. Then, we would be active in his story.

Finally, be perceptive. You will find yourself in all sorts of places this summer so have your eyes open to where God has you placed. Seeing how God is working is a discipline. So slow down and be aware of people who cross your path and the locations you find yourself. Jesus said the most important thing in Matthew 22 is to love God and love people. So let’s make the most of every opportunity we get this summer. Blessings on the journey.

Our congregation just had it’s “Mission Sunday” this past Sunday. It’s the day we fully acknowledge God’s call to us to be in the world and sharing his story in multiple ways. It’s the day we ask our church to financially back where our leadership team feels we are being called into the story. It’s an incredibly encouraging time to reflect and dream. But how persistent are we ready to be when it comes to retelling the greatest story ever told?

Jesus asks us in Luke 18:8, “…when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

This question cuts right to the heart. Jesus is asking: when I come back at the end of time, will I find any faith in the world? The question we have to ask ourselves is what kind of faith is Jesus talking about? Is Jesus simply talking about adhering to a long list of rules? Is he hoping that when he comes back he will find us all being super pious and rigidly religious? I don’t think so. Instead Jesus wants to know if he will find us living in relationship with God. That’s ultimately what faith is all about: living life in relationship with God.

God wants a relationship of love with us. He already has a relationship with us and loves us beyond our wildest imagining. He wants us to enter into this relationship of love with him, and allow it to transform our relationships with everyone — our family, our friends, our coworkers, the sick, the poor, and everyone we meet.Our challenge is to find ways that we can grow in our relationship with God and let that relationship spread into all of our other relationships in life.

How can we do this? Certainly through prayer: talking to God, speaking to him as a friend, as a father who loves us, giving thanks at the end of the day, taking time to go on a walk through nature, maybe even going to church or reading the Bible.

Faith starts in prayer but it doesn’t end there: it sends us out to love in return for God’s love for us. Faith leads us to help out a friend who's in need, to show our love for our family, to take time to help the poor in our community, to talk to a homeless person, to volunteer in the hospital. The question for us is: what concrete steps can we take this week to grow in our relationship of love with God and let it spread throughout our whole life? Then Jesus will surely find faith on the earth when he returns.

May you prayerfully answer the call to live missionally! May you lean into the story of God every day. May you experience the joy of passing on the story of God in your every day story! Blessings on the journey.

Mission (Him)possible

You ever been on a mission? I don't mean a mission trip with church but focused on one particular thing? When my boys were young and in Scouts, we did this thing called geo-caching. It’s where you are looking for hidden treasure. Someone hides something small, puts the coordinates on the web (usually in a state park or public area). Then using GPS and a compass, you track it down.

Those Scouts were so focused on finding that thing. Nothing got in their way. Not weather, terrain, people…they had a laser focus to their mission.

As the church and individual followers of Jesus, we too have a mission. A laser focus in life. Jesus tells us what that is in Matthew 28:18-20, “I’ve been given all authority in heaven and on earth. So, go and make disciples…” That’s it. That’s our mission as people who believe in a risen Savior.

As Jesus-followers, we should be compelled by our mission. That first century church could not stop talking about Jesus and his story. We should be the same, absolutely on fire for Jesus and the hope He gives us. C.S. Lewis said, “There is no such thing as a mere mortal.” It’s so true. All of us are going to live forever. So it’s incredibly important that we take everyday, even in the smallest of ways, to tell those around us about Jesus and what He’s done for us.

We should also be confident in our mission. In Acts 4, the disciples are arrested then released and told not to talk anymore about Jesus. But they met with the whole church and prayed to God to give them boldness to continue. They weren’t scared. They didn’t hide. They didn't pray for vengeance against those authorities. They prayed confidently to God knowing he would grant them more opportunity to share Jesus in word and action.

But we’re also reminded we are called to live out our mission every day. Worship is beautiful as we gather on a Sunday morning together but worship doesn’t end there. Worship is every day of our lives. We must pray for boldness to live in to the mission Jesus has placed us on: telling others about how incredible he is and how Jesus is the only hope we have for life.

So pray to be light in the world where you find yourself. Be bold in your actions and words. Be prayerful and ask God for mission. Be courageous and share Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are not on cruise control. We are on mission to share Jesus every day of our lives. Blessings on journey.

White as Cotton.

My dad grew up in Western Tennessee on a farm. He was actually born in a farmhouse in Obion County. He has related to me the opportunities he had to milk cows, harvest corn, shell peas, well, farm life. He has also told me about hoeing cotton. He said it was an arduous job…long and tiring…row after row. But at harvest time, the field was white with cotton bowls.

Yesterday was our mission Sunday at church. We’ve been talking about it for weeks and weeks, encouraging the congregation to be in prayer about what they might give toward our goal so other people might have the opportunity to hear about Jesus. I don’t know where we are at on the numbers yet but I do know this church is a very generous group of people.

We support and go as far away as Kenya, Africa to help an orphanage of 40 deaf children. We buy Bibles through Eastern European Missions which puts the Bible in schools in places that the USSR used to prohibit. We support a church in Campamento, Honduras, helping create a clean water source and a daycare for the locals. During the summer, we cook all the meals all week long at a camp in Texas for at-risk-kids from the Dallas area. We serve our own community through the Big Event, Meals on Wheels, GP Pregnancy Center, Lifeline Chaplaincy, and GPISD.

Our group is a generous, selfless bunch who just want to look more like Jesus. It’s fun and exciting to be with people who want nothing more than Jesus’ story to be told and do that telling in lots of different ways. But don’t wait for the big “splash”. Don’t wait for the “right moment” before you jump in to help tell the story.

You see, this weekend, I was at a local mall trying to sell my book, Beautiful Interference, which published in June. Sales were…okay. But what struck me was the conversations. I was reminded people are hungry for the truth and a church (or group of people) who also are living for Jesus and the truth. The conversations I had were genuine and authentic. They were people who have been looking for something their life has been missing. His Name is Jesus.

We are called as Jesus’ disciples to share the good news. To BE Jesus to those around us and you don’t need to go to Kenya, Europe, or Honduras to do that. Your neighbor is looking for truth. Your coworker is looking for the answer. Your family member is hoping to find something worth fighting for. The mission field is right around you.

So don’t forget a simple smile, holding the door, allowing someone in the traffic line, a kind word at the bank or post office, sharing a meal with someone in need of a listening ear…these are all mission fields you can be a part of today. Go out and BE Jesus today. Jesus said to his disciples in John 4, “The fields are white, ready for harvest.” And he says that to you and me today.

Take some time this week. Look around. Jesus story needs to be told or even better, shown to all those looking for answers. Be the light. Look around. The field is white and we get to walk among the rows! Blessings on your journey.