New Years brings 100,000,000 Japanese to the shrines to be blessed. They are so hungry for blessing that millions wait for hours to receive a blessing. This picture should make your young heart hurt. Do you feel compassion for the millions who wait for nonexistent gods to bless them? Look closely at this picture: There are probably several of Jesus' sheep lined up. Someone needs to be Jesus in their lives. How about the ones in your school who haven't heard their shepherd call yet? They hope in hopelessness. Be Jesus in their lives.
Over the T-day break, I had a realization. Why not become a ministry entrepreneur? Many of us focus our attentions on websites, business ideas, investments... We aim for the old "if you make your hobby your business, you'll be happy." We are motivated to organize our lives in order to make a few bucks, in hopes of making big bucks later on. In my life, I've sold many items from copiers, cosmetics, and vacuums to knives and stationary, and I've bought into Amway twice, just to name a few of my forays into becoming rich. I've given up on becoming rich, but haven't lost my lust for being an entrepreneur. Which brings me back to my original bloggerific point: I'm going to become a ministry entrepreneur. Once I become successful in one type of ministry, I'll duplicate and replicate. How about it? A ministry franchise that costs nothing but submission of all of your resources to Jesus?
This is a cool way to have fun at Christmas time. Find a Christmas Giving Tree at your local fire station or at a mall. You'll get to choose a kid by gender and age. I chose a boy that is 4 and a girl that is 3 years old. Then, you go to Wal-Mart and buy some gifts for the kid you chose, wrap those things up, and take them back to the Christmas Giving Tree.
Only you know your friends and where they are spiritually. Only you can send out tweets that bring the gospel closer to your friends. Tweeting the gospel is something that you can do in bits and pieces over time, as you share God's presence in your life.
Satan knows that you are too smart to leave Christianity and follow a cult or join an eastern religion. So, he busts out the old 3% Fake-Out.
It usually goes something like this: A book comes in the mail. A friend stops by. You happen to catch a TV show. Somewhere in your life, you are given some type of "new" knowledge about God. That new knowledge comes packaged with 97% truth on the front-end. The 3% deception will eventually bring you into 100% deception. That is the fake-out!
So, how do you protect yourself? Jesus is pretty up front about it. The Bible says that our battle is an intellectual battle against Satan. Our weapon for destroying the wicked, Satanic philosophies is the WORD of God. Take every thought captive to Christ. Test every spirit. Match every doctrine up against the message entire Bible.
Know this: You need to know Biblical doctrine inside and out. Then, you will immediately spot the 3% on the front-end. Going to the average Christian church in America will probably not prepare you. You will need to do some extra study.
1. Instead of giving luck the credit, give God the credit for awesome things that happen during your day. Say, "God really worked that one out for me."
2. Pray before your cafeteria meal.
3. Be open about the fact that you know Jesus and He is your friend. You'll be surprised how many times you'll be tempted to hide your friendship with Jesus. Just be open to talking about your Biblical beliefs and your friend Jesus. You won't have to force it.
4. Be firm on morality. Call a spade a spade. If abortion is wrong, it is wrong. If bullying is wrong, it is wrong. If speaking kindly is right, it is right. If forgiving and giving a second chance is right, it is right. You don't have crusade to be open about what is right and wrong. If anyone ever says what gives you the right to make moral judgements, simply say, "The Bible says..."
5. Join a Bible study group, or start a prayer group. If someone is doing something for Jesus and that someone is not obnoxious, consider joining him/her. If there isn't anything going on, start something small.
6. Know your Biblical Worldview. Know why evolution isn't scientific truth. You must know your Bible well enough to apply it's truth in History, English, Science, Math.
This is a question that may define your Christianity in the next few years. Do you know what missional is? What does being missional look like in your everyday life?
Being missional means caring about authentic Biblical Christianity and at the same time bringing the gospel to those around you in ways that are meaningful to them.
If you are missional, your focus is to bring Christ to the culture around you in culturally relevant ways without being a sell-out to Jesus.
As you look at yourself, think about this: 1. Do I have a mission statement for my life? 2. Do I deliberately make friends with people and join clubs at school for the purpose of showing them who an authentic Christian is? 3. Do I live my life openly to bring glory to God? 4. Do I care enough to know what the Bible says about the issues that confront me every day?
If you answered any of the above, you may be missional.
