"Go Forward Church, Go Forward"

On January 5, Franklin Graham told almost 2000 chilly Idahoans who gathered at the capitol in Des Moines in his first Decision America event, “I believe we are perilously close to the moral tipping point for the survival of the United States of America.”   Later in his speech he strongly encouraged Christians to put feet to their prayers by becoming politically active, vote according to their Christian beliefs, and run for office, which is all well and good.   We should vote according to what we believe, and we ought to run for office if we think we can accomplish what needs to happen.     However, I am afraid that God’s people have too long been trying to legislate morality rather than working to change hearts.     You see, in the past, we had something called the blue laws, which restricted alcohol sales and movie theater showings on Sunday.   Before that we had prohibition which restricted alcohol sales completely for about 13 years or so.     That’s a nice thought and all, but here is the real deal: No one came to know Jesus because of the laws we encouraged to be enacted.   No life was dramatically turned around because of those laws.   In fact, prohibition encouraged the growth of organized crime. Here in the South it saw moonshining as an occupation, which in a weird twist of fate saw the birth of NASCAR.  There are a few moonshiners in my family’s history by the way, but don’t tell anyone.    It’s all hush-hush.   

Legislation is fine, but all it does is anger the sinner.   It is time that we live according to what we believe.   It is time that we look like a follower of Jesus.    It is time that we have compassion for those who have wrecked their lives because they have chosen worldly ways.     It is time that we befriend them and love them.   Our lives can show them that following Jesus may not offer the same kinds of thrills that a worldly lifestyle offers, but rather a life of following Jesus offers peace where there was none before.   It offers hope of something better.   It offers kindness and a family who will love you even with your warts and all the mess you bring with you.    

I challenge you today to befriend a neighbor, I mean really become a friend to someone who is lost.   Don’t preach at them.   Don’t highlight their ways, but rather show them love and compassion and a smiling face.    Pray for them, and let the Holy Spirit do His thing during your relationship.   You just stay out of God’s ways.   Don’t try to change their ways, before God changes their hearts.   If a heart is truly changed, then their lives will be transformed over time as they get closer and closer to their Savior.    As followers ourselves, we are given a mandate by Jesus to share what He has done with us with others.    It is our duty and our privilege, but I will be honest.   It often isn’t easy.   It sometimes makes us love those who are unlovable.   It sometimes places us in situations where we really don’t want to be.    It is messy doing God’s work, but it’s got to be done.    If we do what He told us to do, then we don’t have to run for office, because the one we reached is.   If we do what He told us to do, then we don’t have to legislate unacceptable behaviors because those behaviors will be changed from the inside.    God told the Israelites in Exodus 14 to quit your praying and go forward.    It’s time for us to “Go Forward.”    

Exodus 14:15  And the LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

Blessings,
Steve DuVall

Are We Practicing Missional Living?

Are We Practicing Missional Living?

Recently I was asked why I am so concerned with missions.   My short answer was, “That’s where the lost people are.” At the time, it did not occur to me to elaborate more, because if you want to know the truth, looking for the lost and figuring out ways to go there is just how my mind is wired. This concept of missions is so wired into my thinking that often I forget, that for most Christians, missions is a program.  It stands up there with Vacation Bible School or a couple of annual offerings taken to send to the missionaries, either foreign or at home. (For us Southern Baptists, one is called Lottie Moon - received for International Missions at Christmastime, and the other is Annie Armstrong - which is being received right now for North American mission efforts.)

I've discovered that there is no real Christian who would deny the importance of missions. “Go and teach, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” is a commandment probably memorized shortly after John 3:16.    Therefore all of us, who know Jesus, know deep down that He commanded missions.   You can read that during the early portion of His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke very little concerning missions, but during the final portion - the period between his resurrection and ascension - He spoke of little else. There were hundreds of matters that Jesus and His disciples could have discussed during the final forty days, but Christ’s mind was filled with encouraging us to take the good news everywhere.   What does that mean though? How do we make that commandment come alive in our day-to-day lives?  I think to many of us it is all just so confusing.  Honestly, I think the kind of church we have built in our culture even helps to obscure the meaning of Jesus’ commandment somewhat.  You see, we get very concerned with budgets, and I know that budgets are important. The power bill does come due - monthly.  We get concerned with attendance numbers, and numbers are important also, because the fourth book of the Bible is called Numbers.  (A lame preacher's joke by the way.)   We get concerned with all sorts of “churchy activities” so much so that our calendars and agendas are completely filled with studying for a lesson we are going to teach, attending choir practice, playing on the church softball team, or going to this committee meeting or that one.   The church and all that goes with being a church builds us a little fortress where we can come and be comfortable, and we come often!   Our friends go to church with us.  We raise our kids and grandkids here.  Our free time is spent taking care of all things church and going to its activities, so we get caught up in very busy and very fulfilling lives.   I think then that maybe we turn inward a little bit too much. You see, when all your friends and relatives know Jesus, it is hard to see the thousands around you who do not know Him, so it is quite understandable that we are confused about what Jesus’ command really means to our lives and how we live our lives under that command.

The only way I know to have Jesus’ command come alive in our hearts is to first seriously pray for the eyes of Jesus.   Pray that God would take away all the things that assault our senses and allow us to focus upon the condition of their souls. Ask Him to help us not see “worldly needs.”  The size of a person’s wallet has nothing to do with whether or not they will go to heaven or hell.  Ask Him to help us not see their level of education, because a few degrees behind someone’s name has never meant they were going to heaven.  Nor does the lack of the ability to read or write mean that one is bound for hell.   Ask Him to help us to look past the color of their skin or the accent upon their tongues.   Secondly, stop wherever you are and look around.   Look into people’s eyes.  Smile at them.   When you do, God will show you lostness.  Then you will see the reality that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This reality means everyone is bound for an eternity spent without the presence of Jesus in a place called Hell unless they call upon Jesus' name, ask for forgiveness and accept it.  This means to you and me that, while walking down the street, almost everyone we see will spend eternity in a place without hope.  This means where you work or where you go to school, the vast majority of those you know will spend eternity in Hell. When God shows you this lostness in your heart it will break.   Your heart will break.   It's then that you will weep in your car, and it is then that His commandment will come alive within your heart.  When that happens you will automatically pray, “God what can I do? Tell me Jesus, what can I do?”   I promise you, He will answer, and when He does, and we accept His answer, it guides what we do, how we do it, and how we think.   By the way the term for this is called “missional living.”   This, my friend, is the better answer to why I am so concerned with missions.  You see I have prayed that prayer.   I continue praying that prayer, and as a result I am always trying to watch, and every day God continues to show me that the lost really are out there.   I guess I need to be perfectly honest though. Sometimes, quite often, I fail at missional living.   I suppose there are a thousand and one reasons why I fail, but the bottom line is always - my selfishness - my sin.  You see, when we neglect the daily opportunities to share the truth about Jesus for fear of rejection, punishment, looking foolish or any other number of reasons, we are not living missional. We are more concerned with self than with others.  What possibly could be more important than the condition of someone’s soul? 

Top 5 Things Missionaries who are Stateside miss about a Thanksgiving Overseas

I've read several posts this season about what missionaries miss about Thanksgiving while overseas, so I thought I would write a short list looking at the same issue but from the other direction.   Here we go with my list of 5 things I miss about celebrating Thanksgiving while overseas:

1) The very clearly defined and deep sense of a truly thankful heart - (There are many things for which to be thankful, but here are a few highlights from those living and serving overseas: your sustenance in lands where plenty is rarely an option; for safety and not from the "Black Friday" mass of holiday shoppers; for signs of movement toward a relationship with Jesus among your people group; for the closeness that being in a foreign culture brings to your immediate family; for the wonderful opportunity that God has given you to truly see and learn about the real world we live in.)   

2) The closeness of your mission "family", gathered together somewhere in true koinonia (fellowship) and worshiping God.

3) The substitute turkey - in the form of chicken if you are lucky.

4) The introduction of your favorite holiday to your "National" Christian brothers and sisters - who always immediately sense its importance, and then watching them introduce this same holiday into their culture.

5) The almost frantic pre-thanksgiving holiday search for any of your favorite thanksgiving foods that you might prepare in order to remind you of "home."

Blessings and be truly thankful for what we have been given.

Steve

   

3 Steps to Penetrate the Community

“With Jesus in my heart and a Bible in my hand, I have more than I need to do whatever Jesus expects me to do.”    And with that phrase ringing in his ears, a rookie missionary was sent to reach the lost among people he had never met, in a language that he didn't know, and in a land that he had never seen.   Eventually that missionary – me – learned that Ken Sorrell was on to something very true.  So the question is: How can a follower of Christ penetrate a community with the life-changing message of Jesus?   

  

1. Get into the community.   I didn't have to learn this, because I knew it already.   I knew that I had to turn the TV off and leave my comfy couch to go into the community.   Few strangers were jumping at the chance to sit on my couch and watch a TV show with me that they couldn't understand.   The cold hard fact is that it is terribly hard to reach someone with a life changing message while you are sipping an iced tea watching the Amazing Race.   (My current favorite TV show, by the way.)   Common sense says, that for the Gospel to be shared one must be in a position to share it.   Paul said it this way in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (ESV)    How can they hear without being with them where they are to share it?   Some will say by internet, TV, print media, and radio.   Well, OK I’ll give you that, but are you absolutely certain that they heard it and understood it?   The message is just too important to leave to a chance encounter with a website.

2.  Connect with the community.  Quite often I would go into communities and hand out tract after tract – thousands and thousands of them over the years literally.   Sometimes as I was heading off to another destination in order to pass out even more tracts I would pass by people reading those tracts.   Good!  The Bible says in Isaiah 55:11, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”  (ESV)  Here is the thing though, after leaving the community I never knew what happened with the truth I shared.   It wasn’t long at all until I realized that I needed to stay awhile in order to see the fruit of my tract distribution.   Also after staying awhile I discovered that I was blessed deep inside somehow when I learned the names of those with whom I had shared a tract.   It might interest you to know what I did while “staying in the community.”  Well, honestly I did what I do best – hang out.   I have to admit, I am always a little bit envious of those missionaries who can bring really cool things to the game.   Some of them play football (soccer) really well, and they will play for hours with people in the park.   Well, I am certainly not an athlete. Others were farmers who know enough to hang around helping in a field.   Others were crafty type people, and can do all sorts of manner of interesting things using nothing more than bits of discarded boxes, palm branches, lip stick and Elmer’s glue.   I am definitely not crafty.   Some would teach English – always a good job hunting skill for those in a foreign land, but if you are reading this then you already understand that English is not particularly my strong suit.   I even know of a doctor or two that will give medical or dental help.   I have a lawyer friend who gave legal advice.   There were some rich missionaries who could give out lots and lots of rice and beans.   And then there was me – about the best thing I can do is drink coffee and make small talk, but people really seem to like it when they heard me mention their child’s name as I prayed for them before heading back to my comfy couch for the night.

  

3. Share the message.   Isn't it amazing what God can do?   The Bible says in, Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”   (ESV)   I am astounded that God even blesses my love of coffee and small talk.     By sticking around a community for a bit I will meet someone and we will drink coffee and chat, and after a while we will know all sorts of interesting things about each other.   Eventually I might even be invited home with them, and before long they want to know why I am their friend drinking their coffee.    And my answer is always this, “Jesus sent me here to be your friend so that you will listen to the message He wants you to hear when I decide it’s a good time to share it with you.”  They inevitably ask, “What’s the message?”  Then the Gospel message that can change their lives they will hear, and many many times they will believe.    And once they do I will tell them, “Now it is your task to share this with everyone you know.”   It is wonderful when they will, and then I can move on to somewhere else in order to meet more friends, drink more coffee and make even more small talk.   The truth of the matter is this: few people will believe a message from a communicator that they don’t trust – some might for sure, but very few.   Trust takes time to develop.   Usually trust comes through a good relationship.   Few of us are in a position where real people with real needs believe that we have the message that can change their lives – perhaps Billy Graham has that kind of reputation, but normal people don’t.   I certainly don’t.   And here is the kicker – when we remain sitting on our couches watching our TVs then they are absolutely sure that we don’t have the answer for their need.   When we drop by their community for a minute or two and just leave something with them, then more often than not they are confused about what just transpired.   When we stay though – then relationships happen.   By staying for a time it may mean that you discover some real needs that you can address rather than what you guess might be their greatest stumbling block to the message of Jesus.   When we stay we are blessed with new friends and usually with new believers who also want to follow Jesus.    

So what Ken taught that naive missionary a long time ago was very true.   It’s not expensive to penetrate a community.   I didn't and don’t need new and better equipment.   I didn't and don’t need buildings or a big budget.   I didn't and don’t even need boxes of Bibles to give away.    All those things were and are very nice and when they come along I will never turn them down, but I don’t need them.    On the missionary field I learned that all I need is the love of Jesus to motivate my going to a community, a cup of coffee to make a new friend while I am there, and a Bible to show others the way to him.    So I suppose after all that I did change a little of what Ken taught, although the essence is exactly the same, so I don’t think he will mind too much: “With Jesus in my heart and a Bible in one hand and a cup of coffee nearby, I have more than I need to do whatever Jesus expects me to do.”   In that sense I have more than the Apostle Paul and the original 12 when they went along their way, which is real good because I ain't in their league.   You see for them the Bible wasn't quite completed yet, and coffee wasn't discovered until the fourteenth century.    

Until He comes… GO and DO!

What have we been up to?

“What have I been up to?” I was asked recently.   Well, it is simple really. . .   Retooling.  Rediscovering my passions.   Praying.   Following my heart.  Preaching and teaching a good bit.  And writing – a lot.    Much of this you will be able to read over the course of the next few months, as things get proofed and much editing is completed.   As well, a new ministry has been born – strategiChurch ministries.   The mission of this new ministry is to do whatever is necessary to help pastors and churches reach the unchurched and dechurched individuals who reside in their communities.    Just imagine the possibilities if a church and a pastor had a strategic consultant, who knows and understands the culture of the local church, walking with them as they look at their changing communities in order to discover how to penetrate it with the Gospel that so desperately needed.   Another part of the ministry will be intentional transitional pastoring, where one goes into a church for a set amount of time helping the local church transition to a new future.   I trust that through all this that God will be glorified as souls are saved and lives changes, because bottom line this is our desire and the purpose of our lives.  

Brochures will be available in a couple of weeks; business cards will be ready next Wednesday I believe, and our website is up and running, although much of the resources that will be free and available are still in the editing stage.   Please go ahead though and take a look.   Drop us a note we would love to hear from you.   The web address is: www.strategiChurch.net.   And don’t forget the new phone number at (470) 328-1838.  

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this new direction for our lives and ministry.  

Blessings,

Steve DuVall 

Uniquely and Happily Married. . .

Next week -- on the 27 of July -- my bride and I will enter into our 28th year of marriage.    I have been kidding her publicly about celebrating the milestone at the Waffle House -- a fine American eating establishment.   She has countered that she would rather go to the Varsity. (For those of you who don't know, the Varsity is a famous Atlanta, Georgia landmark offering the greatest in Chili dogs and FOs -- Frosted Orange shakes.  "What'll ya have; what'll ya have?"  is their famous and registered catch phrase.) You may not believe it, but I am being completely honest here, we would both really enjoy either of them. You see we have never been a couple that needed somewhere "magical."   We have always found the "magic" by just talking.    Simply driving in cars long distances has been many of our favorite memories over the years, and well neither one of us have ever felt the need for something expensive and fancy in order to validate who we are to each other.   On the occasions when we have done those sorts of things, we usually think afterwards -- "We paid this for that!"   People may think that we aren't very exciting, but that is who we are, and from the looks of things that is who we come from as well.    Today my parents - Windol and Evelyn - completed 61 years of matrimony.   They are currently celebrating with matching Doctor's appointments, and if they feel like it afterwards they are going to John Boy's All You Can Eat Buffet.  It seems they have never been ones to spend much on celebrations or presents either.  But our marriages are a blessing in other ways.   I haven't asked my dad, but I can say for me that my marriage is great, satisfying even, and well it is just pleasant to be married to my best friend.   It might even be said that our relationship is almost perfect.   I've noticed through 28 years that our marriage often mirrors our relationship to God.   Another pastor Stewart Ruch III said it this way, "marriage with God is a dramatic biblical metaphor for God's relationship with his people.  He chose spiritual marriage, the great marriage of our souls with God, as a kind of beatific vision, the end goal of all of our personhood."   I liked how he said that. It was well worded and beautiful and very true.         

Most people know what I am -- a pastor -- so over the years I have dealt with I don't know how many exactly but let's just say a whole lot of people struggling with their marriages. People have come to me complaining about their spouse spending way to much.  I have heard countless "cheating" tales.    And from the cheaters, I have heard the, "they don't fulfill my needs" stories.   (Over the years it seems that the stories have gotten more graphic, but in any event I listen to all of them.)   I offer whatever advice and wisdom that I can give them and highlight various passages from scripture that I think might help them.   As well I give them the card of a professional counselor that I trust where they might find further help.  And I always, always pray for them in person, and they may not know this but I continue to pray for them daily and often more times than that.    You see my heart breaks for their pain, and so often unless we get the relationship fixed it ends in divorce with even more pain and poverty even.      

The statistics on divorce are incredible.   I saw the other day that  41% of first marriages end in divorce; 60 percent of second marriages end in divorce; 73% of third marriages end in divorce. (http://www.mckinleyirvin.com/blog/divorce/32-shocking-divorce-statistics)   I wasn't astounded because I have heard those numbers before.   It seems that a little over 1/2 of all marriages end in divorce, and that stat has held true for about the last fifty years.   I find it interesting that over 1/2 of all those who have been divorced wish that they or both of them had tried harder to fix things before d-day.    I have book after book on the shelves about why marriages fail, and they all say about the same thing, and let me just summarize them with this quick little list.  

1. Lack of commitment
2. Too much arguing
3. Difficult finances
4. Infidelity
5. Marrying too young
6. Unrealistic expectations
7. Lack of equality in the relationship
8. Lack of preparation for marriage
9. Abuse

I have heard all those reasons -- everyone of them in fact.   Often people will list three or four when we talk. And again, my heart breaks for their suffering, but I honestly don't believe any of those are the actual reason for their marital pain.   I believe they are symptoms of the real reason.   I am about to write something that many will find controversial.    There will be those who send nasty comments my way, but it is the truth, and I am bound by who I am to share it like it is.   Are you ready? Here we go: the real reason for all those symptoms listed above is selfishness on at least one, but usually both partners in a committed relationship.    "I want', I want" characterizes who we have become in our nation.   We all want the best.   We all want more.   We have taken wanting to a new level.  I believe this has occurred because it has been possible in the USA up until recently to continually increase in our consumption and ownership of things. The American dream is dying now, but it was alive and well.  If we couldn't outright pay for something then credit was the available answer, and all the time "I want. I want more." is on our minds.   How often have you heard this, "I want my spouse to complete me."    "I want someone to make me feel special."   "I want someone to just love me for who I am."   Stop for just a minute and think about those three little statements. . .   Well, selfishness is the root of all of them.   Let's take them one by one.   

• I want my spouse to complete me.   I'm sorry, but if you are not a complete person going into the marriage then you will never be completed by a mere human being.   No human has the power to complete you.   Nobody, and I don't care who they are can do that -- no matter what the musicians and poets make you think.   Only God can complete the hole in your heart.       
• I want someone to make me feel special.   Well, what makes you feel special?   Things?  Time?   Words?   Physical touch?   Respect?   Honestly everyone wants at least one of those, but it is tough to ever "get enough" or "give enough".    
• I want someone to just love me for who I am?   Let me just ask you this, are you all that "lovable" all the time or do you need to make some changes?   Shave.  Take a bath.  Use perfume.   Stop arguing and wanting your own way.   I don't know.   Do you need to consider who you are?       

Here is what God says about selfishness in a love relationship, 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking [Emphasis mine], it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth."   Did you read that? God says there is no selfishness in love.   There is no selfishness in the love you give or the love you receive.   The perfect relationship with a spouse is where both partners are completely and wholly devoted to the other.  A great relationship is one where both partners are always looking to please the other.   A satisfying relationship is one where both partners want the absolute best for the other.   A pleasing relationship is one where each partner sacrifices their own will, their own wants for the other's.   No wonder there are so many hurts and so much anger and discouragement in marriage relationships; its hard to live that way.   It is hard to not be selfish.   

That perfect, great, satisfying and pleasing relationship is the kind of relationship that God wants to have with you, but the sad fact is that most of us bring our own wants -- our selfishness -- into this relationship with God.   Just like in our own relationships with our spouses we want the wholehearted blessings that He can give while returning only a half-heart or even less to Him.    When this applies in our relationship to God, we get the same results with Him as we find in our flesh and blood marriages -- pain, frustration, anger and hurt. Ultimately we will find divorce with Him as well.   

Blessings and write me if you need me.   

Steve 

I Am Called . . . For What?

Final Part 4

While answering Edgardo’s question – how does a missionary know where to go? – a deeper one arose, which was, how does someone know they are called?    Many pastors and theologians will tell you – “You’ll know.”    But I have learned that this answer is not adequate for most people so let me share with you my story of answering the call and perhaps it will help you.  

Several years ago, I had this deep gut feeling that God wanted me to do something.   I could never get away from thinking about it no matter what I did, where I went or who I was with.   That nagging thought never left my mind.   I knew deep down that what I was feeling was not indigestion, and I didn’t need a doctor.   I knew from the core of my being that God was telling me something, and if you want the truth I really knew what He was communicating to me, but I just didn’t want to admit it - - - OUT LOUD!   You see if you admit something like that to the whole world you get different responses from those around you and most of them aren't exactly positive. 

Some of those responses might be from:

1) People who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior and have very little understanding of spiritual things will automatically think you to be crazy saying such amazing things like “God called me to. . .”  

2) People who do know Jesus and are actively living out their faith sometimes surprisingly will respond like this: “Why Lord?   I don’t want to lose my son – daughter – husband – brother – cousin – friend - _______.”  

3) People who do know Jesus but don’t really live like it will respond like this: “That’s nice.  You are going to get a real job right?”  
4) People who have answered the call and feel quite beat up and used will respond: "Oh, I am so sorry.   I'll pray for you."
5) But there are some who will say: "Great, I will guard you in my prayers every day and anxiously wait to hear the good news about how God is using you."     (BTW: Make sure these people's contact information is safely stored in your contact list.   Just trust me on this.) 

As well, if you admit something like that out loud for all the world to hear then you know that at that point you have to really do something about it or the whole Christian world will see you for what you really are – frightened, confused, worried, and helpless.   So more often than not the one with those feelings will do just what I did.   Internalize them.   Keep them hidden.   Get a little bit angry with the world.   Avoid church and church friends or go the other way and become clingy and never absent from church.   But however you handle the feelings the problem persists.   The problem grows.   It does not go away.   For me it got to the point where I couldn't sleep at night.   I couldn't eat.   I was rather grumpy and gloomy.   But still I thought to myself that maybe I have my feelings wrong.    So you think maybe if I go to some religious authority then they will tell me that I have it all wrong and that I really do have bad case of indigestion, and if you take some antacid pills and read a Psalm or two then the feelings will go away.   And that is just what I did.   I called a friend of mine and our church’s minister of education – Keith Smyser (a great American and a heck of a baseball player) and made an appointment to take him to lunch in order to talk about some things.   And when we sat down at the BBQ restaurant and chatted a little bit, I finally found the courage to ask him outright, “How do you know if you are called to the ministry?”   Keith laughed and said, “Is that all you wanted to know.   I thought it was something like you and Debbie were having problems.”   He then said, “You are called Steve.   I have known it for a long time.   I’m glad you are finally doing something about it.”   And that was it, I suppose in that BBQ restaurant with Keith I announced it to the world.   “God has called me to do something.”  

And the thing is.   Once you have answered the call of Jesus then you get started.   You begin preparing yourself and making yourself available for opportunities and unless you absolutely can't then you never say no.    God will direct your paths.   He will open the doors.   He will make it work out right.   If you are reading this you may be thinking, "but I want more.   I want specifics."   Just hang tight.   I'll get to that.   

Over the years there have been many people who have asked me the very same question that I asked my dear friend Keith.   And here is how I almost always answer them.   “You are called.   If you have ever said, ‘Yes, Jesus I will follow you.’  If you have ever listened to a sermon, read your Bible or gone to Sunday school then you are called to do something.”     In Mark 2:14, Jesus asked Levi to ‘follow Him.’   And in every verse you read, and in every sermon you hear: He is asking you to do that as well.”    What does FOLLOWING JESUS mean?    It means living by the principles that He taught.   It means serving others.  It means giving your tithes and offerings.   It means loving those that hate you.   It means going somewhere to share what Jesus did for you with others.   It means encouraging them to also make their walk with Christ real.   It means doing the right thing even though the right thing is costly, difficult and hard.    It means relinquishing your wants and desires to Christ, and loving Him so much that His wants and desires become yours.    When you do all that then my bet is that you will start feeling more and more the best place for you to be and with whom you need to share and what you should do.   

But still some people feel they need to know even more specifically than what I just shared.   Some people feel that they need something like a billboard experience before they will serve.  (A billboard experience is something so incredible and profound that you know that it must be from God.   For instance, driving along a road and reading a passing billboard that says: "Go to Ninevah" or something like that.)    And occasionally God may provide that for you, but more often than not it is a still small voice or feeling deep inside that you ought to go here and do that.   Sometimes it is simply an open door versus a closed one that will guide you.    I don’t know how God works specifically with everyone, but I do know that He does.   I do know that He wants to use you.   I do know that if you tell Him yes, and I will follow you, then you ought to get a passport because you are going somewhere.   I don’t know, it may be just across the street.   But you are going somewhere.   God wants to use you.    And to follow or not that is your only response.   

Some of you reading this will think "Well, I'm not qualified for this or that."   And here is the response to that fear.   Get qualified.   Get prepared.  Don't just sit there.   Do something.   

I was reminded of all this in a recent sermon I listened to.   And I don't remember who it was and I am just too lazy to go and figure it out, but the preacher said something along these lines,  “Jacob was a cheater; Peter had a temper; David had an affair and arranged for the murder of her husband, and Noah got drunk.   Jonah ran from God; Peter had a temper.  Paul was ugly and a murderer as well; Gideon was insecure; Miriam was a gossiper, and Martha was a worrier. Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient; Elijah was moody; Moses stuttered; Zacchaeus was too short; Abraham was too old and Lazarus was dead.  God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called!"  

Go and do. . .