Greetings from the latter end of a beautiful Sunday here in Maine!
I meant to get this up earlier. I will try to be more regimented in the future. But today was kinda cool and slowed me down, so let me tell you about it!
Today after church we had a “family meeting” in which the whole congregation got together, ate a dynamite potluck, and talked about the vision of the church and where we are now as a healthy organization of the big “C” church that are the followers of Jesus on this earth. After the meeting, my dear friend Natalie asked if I wanted to hang out after church. I always want to hang out after church. Sometimes it’s really hard to come back to a spiritually deficient place after being surrounded by the wonderful body of believers I do life with. I looked her dead in the eyes and said, “I need to be near the water today.” So we drove to Deering Oaks park, sat by the pond among the hundredfold of waterfowl, and talked for hours-something I had been needing as my number of christian friends on campus has dwindled down to about 2 or 3 since I got here as a freshman. I miss being able to go down the hall and talk to a friend who I know is going to give me good, healthy advice. Afternoons like these water and refresh my soul.
Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is the question of full-time ministry. When you hear the words, what do you think of?
- Pastors, obviously
- Evangelists, like Billy Graham
- Missionaries, and I’m not talking about short term missions.
You wouldn’t think of a 20 year old college student, would you now. But here’s the reality…WE ARE ALL DOING FULL-TIME MINISTRY!
If you have accepted Jesus into your heart, you are signed up for full-time ministry. It doesn’t look the same for a lot of people. In fact, the majority of christians are not going to be the 3 things I mentioned above. They are going to show people Jesus in their workplaces, families, and hobbies. Let me give you an example…
When I was a freshman, the two clubs I loved and still love doing were Navs (obviously) and Martial Arts Club. I was a white belt, and I didn’t even have a gee (uniform) yet. But by the time my freshman year was over, I had half of the Martial Arts Club coming to Navs and hearing about Jesus on a consistent basis. One of those guys even accepted Jesus into his heart a year later, after many tears, toils, and hardships in our friendship. PRAISE GOD! What was the secret? Starting a conversation about God with him one night at a trampoline park. Listening to who was hungry for the Word, and praying for the boldness to ask them about Jesus. I looked down the row one Nav Night and saw that it was almost all my martial arts peeps who I was sitting next to. Something clicked, but I haven’t fully realized it until now.
We make evangelism so complicated. It’s not. It is simply inviting someone to church, or a campus ministry, or a bible study, or even having intentional conversations with people, and letting God do the rest.
I counted up the hours a week I put into Navs. I promise you, I’m not exaggerating-it’s enough to qualify for a part time job, about 12-15 hours a week, and no, I do not get paid for it. But why do I do it, you then may ask???
Because I care about this campus. I care about the people who are lost in the darkness that is college culture-drinking, drugs, casual sex, toxic relationships, you name it and we sadly have it. So when people ask me if I’m doing full-time ministry, my response is “heck yes.” Because there are people right next door to me who are hurting, and I know the cure for the sickness. His name is Jesus Christ.
Go and tell someone about Him today.
~J
“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.” -Matthew 9:37-38
Water from the Rock 