lesson 3 reflections

The Big Idea: The mission Jesus gave the Church is simple but profound: more
Christians, better Christians.

More- It is simple because according to 2 Peter 3:9, God doesn't want anyone to perish, but to come to a knowledge of the truth. He doesn't want any single person to spend eternity apart from Him. He wants to include all people in his family.

Better- This one is a little bit trickier, mainly because one of the first thoughts that pop in my mind when I think of better is "better/worth more than another". I think that better here in this usage is that Christians are better equipped and trained to share the love of Christ with others. This can be done through purposeful evangelism, sharing with one's family, co-workers, neighbors, etc.

Resource 3-1
Obviously, the great commission outlines what God wants from us, to share the Good News of Jesus with those who don't know it or haven't experienced it personally for themselves.
Tom Nees states four things that missional churches everywhere have in common ("1) They make disciples of lost people. 2) They reach across cultural barriers. 3) They commit to compassion evangelism. And 4) they reproduce themselves with new churches.”) The one that has been ringing home with me is the compassion evangelism. We need to meet needs with love, which give us the right to be able to share Jesus with them.

Bill M. Sullivan said “Missional starts with who we are inside. . . . The evangelization of the world waits not on the readiness of God but on the obedience of Christians.” The world and its lost are not waiting on God to act; He already has. It's really waiting on Christians to say yes to God. This kind of change of mentality must happen IN us at the deepest heart level, at our core.

“The content of mission—the message of evangelism–is the Good News of Jesus Christ.” —Claude E. Payne
We shouldn't forget that no matter the method, sharing the unchanging message of God's love for all people through Jesus Christ is our main goal. People need to know that they are loved by God.

“Soul-stretching, expansive ideas come to my mind when the words mission and vision are used. My list includes objectives, purpose, achievement, missional, evangelism, vision, creativity, passion, imagination and all-out commitment for God.” —Neil B. Wiseman
“There is a sense of mystery in mission which beckons us on to explore and discover riches as yet undreamed of. It is the mystery represented by the person of the Holy Spirit that in a sense guarantees the future of the church in the third millennium.” —Martin Robinson
We need our imagination and our faith challenged in order to really grasp what God wants to do here on earth through us.

Journal assignment 2- NNU online class

- Reflect on the quote from C. H. Spurgeon (Lectures to My Students, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954, 32.): "We must feel that woe is unto us if we preach not the gospel; the word of God must be unto us as a fire in our bones, otherwise, if we undertake the ministry, we shall be unhappy in it, shall be unable to bear the self-denials in it, and shall be of little service to those among whom we serve." Charles definitely gives a good word to us here. We should identify with Paul who said "woe to me if I do not preach the gospel."(1 Cor. 9:16, NIV) If we don't we will quickly lose sight of why God called us to join him in his work. We won't be able to say no to our own desires so that we can say yes to what God wants.

- Reflect on "The Big Idea.""Effective ministry requires that a pastor be thoroughly converted and that he or she be living out a vital faith at home." How could anyone argue with that? It would be like a salesperson peddling a product they don't believe makes a difference in the life of the customer; except that we don't have anything to sell. We're simply sharing God's offer of love and redemption to any who would receive it. That faith, that conviction should bear itself out in our homes first; then let that spill over into ministering to others. How in the world could I tell someone else that Jesus can help/change them unless I've experienced that for myself?

administration

so I'm supposed to "journal" about what I think when I hear the word "administration". First thought is a newly coined word (also most overused and most annoying) meh. This little collection of letters is supposed to convey some form of displeasure mixed with a sense of apathy. That pretty much sums it up for me. I don't like having to organize things or do paperwork, but I definitely enjoy the benefits of putting the time into administration. It's easy for me to look back and tell that things got better for me when I begin to invest some time in a ministry or activity on the front end.

something you should do

If you have kids, and videos of those kids, you should without a doubt make some kind of video with them. They will love it. I made one for my wife for mother's day, and my kids have watched it fifteen times already. It's so much fun to watch them watching themselves. If you're my facebook friend, I posted the video yesterday. Check it out.