A very scary thing took place as I lived in a neighborhood for fourteen years. I saw little kids grow up and learn to drive!
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Little Andrew, just a toddler when we moved into the neighborhood, was suddenly given the keys to the family Expedition. Up the street he went, windows rolled down, radio blaring, exceeding the speed limit, a smirk of coolness on his face. How could this be?
Sweet little Emily, just into kindergarten when we arrived on the block, was driving her sister to school! When did she get such authority?
This was frightening. But it was a fact of life. After all, we’re going to need these drivers to take us to our hip replacement doctor follow-ups one day.
It’s terrifying, but there is no way we can shut down driver training. We can’t cap the number of drivers on the road with our generation.
The same is true of Kingdom work.
It may be scary, but God is giving many people the mantle of Kingdom service. It can be frightening to Kingdom-work veterans, and it can be frightening for new Kingdom workers! But we can’t shut down Kingdom-worker training and sending. We can’t cap the number of people who serve Jesus with our generation or our geography or our genetic makeup. We must take a chance.
Throughout millennia God has raised up new people to reach out with His Good News. Somehow, we who serve got into this business. Each of us was new at one time. And each of us makes a unique Kingdom difference. We need to let God do the same with others. We need to mentor, support, teach, be flexible, welcome new ideas, guide with sound Scriptural foundations, and let go of our own fear and pride. We need to see how God will reach new generations with new workers who are sent into a chain reaction of new relationships.
And new workers need to be ready. Getting behind the wheel can be nerve-wracking. It can be intimidating. You may not want to head out into traffic. But there comes a time to drive! God is sending you because there are people in your life who need to know Jesus. There are people you will enter into relationships with who need to see His genuine love. You need to learn, practice, be humble, and take risks.
God’s courage leads the way. Let’s take chances with Him so that many will come to know their Savior, Jesus who lives!
You can register for the latest Missional Worker Training in your area at www.missionalworker.org.
Showing posts with label Missional Worker Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missional Worker Training. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Workers
I heard this morning that the United States is one trillion pounds overweight. That's a lot of pounds per person. You can do the math.
In contrast to that estimate, we also have more diets, food supplements, websites, and talk shows devoted to the weight issue than any place in the world. We talk so much about weight loss and healthy eating. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are spent to study weight loss. The National Football League is pushing 60 minutes of exercise each day for kids in order to curb obesity in children. We're fixated on losing weight!
But it doesn't seem to be working.
Why? I think I have an idea.
There was a time when most people packed lunches and cooked their supper. There was a little window during the day when you had to get your hands on a couple of pieces of bread, dig some peanut butter and jelly out of the refrigerator, find a knife, put it all together in a sandwich, pack the sandwich in something to keep it fresh, then tuck the little package into a lunch bag. In addition to the sandwich, you had to have access to an apple or orange, and maybe a few potato chips, and pack those in the lunch bag, too.
Yes, this really happened.
There was also a time during the day when someone in the house cooked food for the dwellers of the house. It may have been a pot roast or some pork chops. It could have been spaghetti or even some hamburger helper. But at a designated time of day, supper was prepared and eaten--a home-cooked meal.
But this took work. It took time. You even had to do some menu planning and grocery shopping. Yes, more work.
People don't want to do the work anymore. It's easier to have someone else prepare the meal and hand it to you through a drive-thru window. No shopping. No preparation. No walking. No exertion. Just a credit card and voila! No work.
Jesus said in Luke 10:2, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Workers. We live in a day and age when the desire to do work is fading. We pay people to do things. We find convenient ways of avoiding work but still realizing a result. Our culture loves to talk ABOUT getting things done. Our culture loves to play games and work at having fun. But, according to Jesus, the Kingdom of God needs workers.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is creating a strong desire in believers to serve God and help expand His Kingdom. I know that there are people out there who are ready to do the work, the hard and wonderful work of the Gospel. I am convinced that Jesus' promise of a prevailing Church is true and Jesus' call to pray for workers will result in a harvest beyond all we can ask for or imagine.
But we need to hear Jesus' words carefully. We need to remember that Kingdom growth takes work. It takes workers. We need to ask for workers--in prayer and in settings where we gather with Christians. We need to be bold about the sacrifice and effort and gifts needed from believers for the sake of Kingdom expansion. We need to recruit the people of God to be about the worthy work of bringing the Good News of Jesus to others--not as professionals (we need them, too), but as workers who make the Kingdom harvest part of the fabric of their lives.
Without workers an inadequate Kingdom diet that threatens the health of the Church may be the result.
Workers wanted. Workers to be trained and sent. Missional Worker Training is ready to help.
In contrast to that estimate, we also have more diets, food supplements, websites, and talk shows devoted to the weight issue than any place in the world. We talk so much about weight loss and healthy eating. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are spent to study weight loss. The National Football League is pushing 60 minutes of exercise each day for kids in order to curb obesity in children. We're fixated on losing weight!
But it doesn't seem to be working.
Why? I think I have an idea.
There was a time when most people packed lunches and cooked their supper. There was a little window during the day when you had to get your hands on a couple of pieces of bread, dig some peanut butter and jelly out of the refrigerator, find a knife, put it all together in a sandwich, pack the sandwich in something to keep it fresh, then tuck the little package into a lunch bag. In addition to the sandwich, you had to have access to an apple or orange, and maybe a few potato chips, and pack those in the lunch bag, too.
Yes, this really happened.
There was also a time during the day when someone in the house cooked food for the dwellers of the house. It may have been a pot roast or some pork chops. It could have been spaghetti or even some hamburger helper. But at a designated time of day, supper was prepared and eaten--a home-cooked meal.
But this took work. It took time. You even had to do some menu planning and grocery shopping. Yes, more work.
People don't want to do the work anymore. It's easier to have someone else prepare the meal and hand it to you through a drive-thru window. No shopping. No preparation. No walking. No exertion. Just a credit card and voila! No work.
Jesus said in Luke 10:2, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Workers. We live in a day and age when the desire to do work is fading. We pay people to do things. We find convenient ways of avoiding work but still realizing a result. Our culture loves to talk ABOUT getting things done. Our culture loves to play games and work at having fun. But, according to Jesus, the Kingdom of God needs workers.
I believe that the Holy Spirit is creating a strong desire in believers to serve God and help expand His Kingdom. I know that there are people out there who are ready to do the work, the hard and wonderful work of the Gospel. I am convinced that Jesus' promise of a prevailing Church is true and Jesus' call to pray for workers will result in a harvest beyond all we can ask for or imagine.
But we need to hear Jesus' words carefully. We need to remember that Kingdom growth takes work. It takes workers. We need to ask for workers--in prayer and in settings where we gather with Christians. We need to be bold about the sacrifice and effort and gifts needed from believers for the sake of Kingdom expansion. We need to recruit the people of God to be about the worthy work of bringing the Good News of Jesus to others--not as professionals (we need them, too), but as workers who make the Kingdom harvest part of the fabric of their lives.
Without workers an inadequate Kingdom diet that threatens the health of the Church may be the result.
Workers wanted. Workers to be trained and sent. Missional Worker Training is ready to help.
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