Is That Rock Talking? August 30, 2009
I live in the Bible belt, where there are churches on every corner and five in between them. Recently, I took a trip outside of the Bible belt and was really bothered. There were only two differences I noticed between the two. The first was fairly obvious; the number of churches was drastically different. The second difference was much more subtle. I didn’t notice it at first, no reason to notice it. The people were very nice and courteous. And then it happened. I asked a man where he went to church. His response didn’t shock me, but made me start thinking. He said, “I don’t go to church, I don’t believe any of that stuff.” I asked another lady when the chance came up. Same response, she said, “I’m not going to that sort of stuff.” Again and again the responses were the same. Not only were they not in church, but they never have been to church and are not even thinking about it. I am use to everyone going to church, not that they are believers, but to at least go to church.
Though we need missionaries in North America that is not what I want to talk about. I started thinking of a very specific verse. Let’s set the scene here. Jesus is riding on the back of a colt making His entrance into Jerusalem. The crowds are going crazy. The people are laying their cloaks on the ground in front of Jesus so the colt isn’t touching the ground. Jesus is being treated as royalty. Jesus’ followers even start shouting, “Blessed is the King!” And then some of the people in the crowd get upset about what is being said. These are the teachers of the law, the know-it-alls of scripture; those that got upset were Pharisees. They were upset and wanted the people to stop making such a big deal out of Jesus. The Pharisees were so upset they wanted Jesus to make the disciples stop saying these things.
Luke 40:35-40
They brought it (a colt) to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
The last verse, verse 40, is the verse that I started to dwell on. My friends we are not being loud enough about Jesus. We are not shouting about our Savior, our King, Our God! If we don’t start to shout louder I am afraid of what might happen. Jesus says, “if we keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” If Jesus’ followers are remaining quiet, then creation will have to do the job, the message of Christ cannot be kept quiet.
Creation can only cry out in two ways. Creation is very beautiful and sings the glory of the Lord, that’s the first way. The second is what scares me. For creation to make us take notice, some sort of catastrophe has occurred. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires, blizzards, avalanches, droughts all scream the power and authority of Jesus. If we do not start speaking out about Jesus, creation is going to be forced to speak louder.
One last thought about this verse. It is the job of the disciple to spread the name and truth of Jesus. To be a disciple, you cannot be quiet about Jesus.
Haley Uhrig
But Overseas Is Too Far! - August 5, 2009
Many of us in the church don’t feel the call to go spend years overseas. The thought of leaving our family for that amount of time scares us. Opportunities that allow a week or even a couple a weeks are great, but even they are still really expensive. All this talk about how we are all called is great, but can leave you feeling guilty. What about those of us who have to work, support families and involved in so many other things?
First of all the feeling should not be guilt or even pressure to go overseas for extended periods of time. This is where you have to listen to the Holy Spirit. What you are feeling is a tug at your heart to do something. To impact lives. It is true that a fulltime missionary has a special call on their lives. Now this call is probably extended to more than go. If this is the call that God has given you, please do not ignore it. Now what you can’t do is have the excuse. “God hasn’t called me to missions.” That would be a lie. He has called all of us to go. He has called all of us to participate in the making of disciples.
Let’s take a close look at Acts 1:8 NIV
“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Now lets look at the cities: Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Acts 1:8 is spoken to the disciples as Jesus is being taken up into heaven. The disciples’ home base was going to be Jerusalem. Jesus had told them to go to Jerusalem and wait until the Holy Spirit arrived. Jerusalem was to be the base of Christianity, it became the disciples home. Jesus said, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem” or in terms for today, “you will be my witnesses in your home town.”
Be a missionary where you are. You have been put in your city, your town, and your dot on a map to help in the process of making disciples for Christ. Look around your home for opportunities to share the love of Christ with those around you.
Here is a little statistic that will help you see how much you are needed where you are already. Less than 70% of people living in the United States consider themselves a Christian (Christian in this instance includes all who claim to be Christian; Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, Evangelicals…). This number is sharply declining. It is predicted by the year 2042 that non-Christians will out number Christians in the United States. (Data from 2001 ARIS Study)
Your neighbors need for you to be a missionary to them! God has you positioned perfectly to reach somebody around you for His kingdom. GO!
Haley Uhrig
Am I A Missionary? - July 30, 2009
Growing up in church, a missionary was someone who gave their life of comfort to spend their time helping others. They were who we cheered on and supported. In some circles Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon were the only missionaries we knew. Missionaries were (and still are) heroes of the church. They would come and speak and tell of their time “in country” and then leave again. And we all prayed that we would not be called to be a missionary. So do missionaries get a special or higher calling than the rest of us?
That is not really the question that believers need to be asking themselves.
Let’s look at what scripture says about being a missionary.
Matthew 28:18-19 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
Jesus has been crucified, resurrected and is about to ascend into heaven. He as done all that is necessary for the salvation of people. His instructions are simple. “GO!” How do so many Christians miss this? It is so clear. There is nothing to miss here and there is no mystery. Just go. Really, why so many believers have missed this calling and will of God. That’s right, the will of God! The will of God is to have His people tell other people about Him. That is being a missionary.
Yes, there are those that have received word from God to go to certain places, to certain people. However, the message was not go, it was to where. God has already said go. No, don’t go quit your job or drop out of school to go off to another country, unless God has given you clearance. What you should be doing is telling others of about Christ.
Go and make disciples!
Haley Uhrig
Definitions - July 24, 2009
We talk a lot about missions and missionaries in church culture and the idea of what a mission is and what missionaries do has come a long way. But, what are they really? And if we knew what they really were, would it change the way people approach missions?
The term mission has a lot of different means, its just according to who you are talking to. To some a mission is a little church in some far off country struggling help some hungry people out. History buffs might think of old forts and catholic missions; the Alamo was a mission before it was a fort. To soldiers a mission is a specific task they have to complete to serve their country. And now the term mission is a catch phrase in businesses. “Our Mission” or our “Mission Statement is”, yada, yada, yada… So what is a mission?
Every missionary knows what a mission is because they understand how they ended up where they are. But what is a missionary. If you grew up in church, missionaries might be something that you have prayed and raised money for and at the same time prayed that you would never be called to be a missionary. Their life was looked terrible and why in the world would you ever want to put yourself through that, but good for them. For those that are not in church, a missionary is a fool. They have left their life in the United States to live in garbage only to end up as a prisoner on the news. But what would a missionary say they are?
In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah has a vision of angels and they were crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." When Isaiah was faced with the Holiness of the Lord he immediately became afraid and felt a terrible sense of pain for those that lived around him. Isaiah said, “"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Isaiah knew that the people around him did not know nor understand God. He knew that they had to know about their God. They needed to know how Holy, gracious, merciful, loving and just God is. God at one knew Isaiah’s heart and said, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Immediately upon being asked Isaiah said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:3-8) NIV
There it is; the answer to our question. Webster’s Dictionary defines mission as “the act of sending” and missionary as “one who is undertaking a mission.” Why didn't’t Webster’s say, one who is SENT on a mission? Maybe it seemed weird to them to be saying, one who is sent on a sent. Missionaries are those who have said “send me” and I will tell them of Jesus, the one who was sent and sent me. It is really easy, it’s all about sending. Every missionary knows that they are sent. They have begun to understand how perfect and holy our God is and they see the need of people for the mercy and grace that God has to offer.
The fact is that if you are a believer, a follower of Jesus, you are sent. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “go”. The fact is that people need Jesus. In some instances they need food, clean water, shelter, clothes, counseling and more. But above all else, people need freed from sin and the only way they will be freed from their sin is if someone will tell them about Jesus.
Haley Uhrig
