Pass The Q Tips, Please.

Have you ever been in a church service and halfway through the offering a pastor gets up and says, “Stop taking up the offering, we have more than enough money. Thanks for your generosity of going above and beyond the call of duty”? In my time alone with God recently the Holy Spirit impressed on me the following verses: “We have more than enough materials on hand now to complete the job the LORD has given us to do!” they exclaimed. So Moses gave the command, and this message was sent throughout the camp: “Bring no more materials! You have already given more than enough.” So the people stopped bringing their offerings. Exodus 36:5-7

Why were their contributions more than enough to complete the project, but we seem to never have enough to complete our projects? When is the last time you received an appeal letter that said, “Please do not send any more resources, we have more than enough"? You have never received a letter from NPEA like that!

Did the Israelites have more than enough because it was something God directly told them to do? Doesn’t God tell us to take care of the poor and widows? Maybe there is too much clamoring in our ears and we can’t really hear God. Or do we get into these games where we justify that it was something He told us to do, when, in reality, it wasn't what He told us to do at all? Maybe the voice whispering in our ear has a human face? Can we assume there are not enough resources because we simply are not investing in what God would want us to? How can we discern whether it is God speaking to us or other noisy parties? What else can we do besides pray, read the bible, seek counsel, fast, have extended periods of intensive prayer, and be better listeners, to know God’s timing, to determine it is His voice?

So why doesn’t NPEA, or for that matter, why don't Bible colleges, churches, missionaries, Christian radio stations, disaster recovery programs, etc., have more than enough? Is it because of a lack of listening to God's voice? Is it because some of these ministries should consolidate? Is it because we don’t have a generous spirit? Is it because some of these ministries should close? Is it because we are not committed to follow through, once we hear His voice?

I once said to God, “If you are the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills, why don’t you sell some and give me the cash?”

If He provides for all my needs, maybe some of my needs might be wants? Or you could play the good, better, best card in terms of what to support with His money. Did we create the shortage, or did He?

I am riding on my ox-driven cart with a choice load of lumber for the temple. My son is sitting next to me as we pull up to the unloading zone. And Moses is in charge of shipping and receiving. My son and I hear over a loudspeaker the voice of Moses, “We don’t need any more materials. You all have brought more than enough!” May we be challenged by their grateful generosity in overcoming acedia, that we could be halted because we were “doing more than enough”!

The Mission Field?

I get away to a prayer chapel once a month to be alone with God. In this prayer chapel there are two massive posters of a gentleman and a young boy who are from different countries than the United States. These posters are to motivate us to pray for the mission field.

My first thought is, why isn’t there also a picture of people from my hometown, Fargo/Moorhead? Maybe because the majority of the people from the town I live in don’t have dark colored skin?

As we travel and speak, sometimes in the churches I visit there are various countries' flags in view from around the world. I assume the flags represent missionaries supported by the church and the peoples to whom they have been sent.

When there is a United States flag in a church, it is usually in reference to the government of this country, not to the people here who also need Jesus.

Do you often hear about people in churches, or get a support letter from someone you know, about a mission trip they have gone on or are planning to go on in the near future? I hear they are going to, or went to, Mexico, to Haiti, to Japan, to Bosnia, even to Israel, to walk where Jesus walked. These short-term missionaries usually travel to someplace that is outside the borders of the United States and is a plane ticket away.

These baffle me when I consider Acts 1:8. In this passage, the first place we are to share the “Good News” is in our own backyard. God is implying that where we live is a mission field! It is kind of unique that God’s plan would have us consider where we live as our first place to spread the gospel message.

If you are a missionary at “home,” you already know the language. You won’t have to raise support to leave. You won’t have to get cultural training (although we do need to understand unsaved postmodern people a little better). You will have time to disciple those you lead to Christ rather then get decisions and then have to leave the country. You won’t need to get a passport or work visa. You might already be employed.

Why is it so easy for us to dream about and envision taking the gospel across the ocean,

but more difficult to take it across the street (or across the eight-lane freeway, as the case may be)?






Why haven’t I won my neighbors to Christ? Why is it easier for us to send a check overseas, than to send ourselves to the person who needs the love of Jesus in our hometown? Why do most Bible Colleges teach about the mission field in terms of a foreign country, and not in terms of right here at home?

A "mission field"? What do you think, is there one at home and abroad? How can we overcome acedia in terms of recognizing and evangelizing the people who live right next door? Is Bismarck/Mandan, ND, a mission field? How about a mission trip to Bismarck/Mandan, ND?