Project Mission

Now it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, let us go over to the Philistines' garrison that is on the other side,' but he did not tell his father. 1 Samuel 14:1

Your Christian life should be an adventure. Do you know why? It's because there are people you don't know, sometimes in dangerous places, who don't know Him and it's up to you and me to reach them.

Jesus' mission was to save the world and following Jesus means actively getting involved in the His mission. It's the Great Commission-the co-mission-realizing we don't do it alone. It is His heart, passion, zeal, and courage filling up our hearts and saying, Come on the adventure! With Me, all things are possible.

Take a trip to Uganda I was part of, for example, where we could believe together for sending a righteous message into the heart of all of the witchdoctors who want to continue to mess with the lives of the children in that nation.

And, hey, I'm going to be honest with you today. When that witchdoctor, Kobi, bowed his knee and accepted Jesus Christ, broken over what he had done, I was just sort of conflicted by the whole thing. I mean, there was something in me that wanted to look at this guy in his prison and say, Not only is this what you deserve, but you ought to rot in Hell for what you have done, mutilating and sacrificing innocent children.

But all of a sudden, I see this wave of grace come through the warden's office. And not only does this witchdoctor's heart change as he surrenders his life to Jesus, but my heart changes, too, as the Lord brought me in tune with the reality of just how far I still have to go.

Listen, God's not through writing Kobi's testimony. And we have the opportunity to be part of that, since they invited us to go back and preach in that prison. But that would mean risk and adventure. That would mean getting uncomfortable for the sake of Jesus' glory. I mean, if you have soap in that prison, you're a wealthy guy. The prison was built in 1920 for 600 inmates, it's never been updated since 1920, and it now holds 3,500 inmates. If you have a mattress that's one inch thick, you're styling, man; you're a king.

And now in the heart of that prison, there's Kobi, the former witchdoctor, now a son of God, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, all because some people took an adventure for Jesus.

God wants to make your Christian life an adventure. Will you go?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for going on the ultimate adventure, leaving Heaven and coming to Earth to save me! Please put more of Your heart in me today and lead me on the adventure You have for me in this world!

Amen

Jonah-Jacked

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.' But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:1-3

Hope and Change.

That sounds like a great slogan, doesn't it? Wait, you're saying that it's already taken? Well, we're going to use it anyway, because there's still plenty more change that needs to hap-

pen, amen? And we know that God is the only one who's able to give us hope for the change we need in our lives and world today.

In fact, I want to revisit one of the greatest stories of change in all of scripture-the story of Nineveh. Now, let me first say that there is no city in our world today with problems that Nineveh didn't have going on. I mean, they had every form of wickedness you can imagine, and the city was huge. But God loved the people and wanted them saved, so He sent Jonah.

Mark that. In order for that change to happen in Nineveh, what had to happen first? Jonah had to go. But Jonah didn't want to go, so God needed to hijack him. Jonah fled in the opposite direction of which God had sent him, but-and this is a big but-but the Lord brings on a storm that cancels out Jonah's little trip.

God forced the issue of Jonah's rebellion and disobedience. In other words, it was like God was saying, Hey, Jonah, I want to save Nineveh, but I'm not doing it without you. Get your big but out of that boat and come with me!

Jonah had a big but and a lot of us do, too. Jonah's but was, But I don't wanna! Does that sound familiar? Maybe you've caught yourself saying that a time or two to the Lord.

We need to get hijacked. Surrender. Forget the excuses.

Well, I was going to go down to Mexico, but... Well, I was going to tithe, but... Well, I was going to serve, but...

In order for that great city to be reached, it required Jonah to get hijacked. Listen, we've got a world to reach today. We've got a city to reach that's as lost and sinful as Nineveh was back then. And we can't continue to come up with excuses why God can't use us.

What is the city, nation, people group, or realm of society that God has put on your heart? Now, are you hijacked enough to do something to bring God's change to them?

Prayer Lord God,

I need Your help! I do not want to be like Jonah, fleeing from Your presence and disobeying Your voice. Please give me wisdom and boldness to follow You to bring change to this world!

Amen

This Changes Everything

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, Peace to you.' But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, Why are you troubled?' Luke 24:36-38

What's troubling you? Perhaps it is the economy, the way the government is running the country, or all the turmoil in the Middle East. Maybe you've lost your job, or you don't like your job but are afraid to leave because you know how hard it might be to find a different one.

With all that is going on in the world that could potentially trouble you, you probably don't need me to give you a list of suggestions. Most of us can probably think of something right away on our own that makes us a little unsettled, and maybe even scares us.

That's where the disciples found themselves. Jesus had died, their dreams were shattered, their lives were at a dead end, and now some of them were reporting that they had seen Jesus alive. As they gathered together to share stories of their emotional roller coaster-BOOM!Jesus appears right in the middle of them.

Can you picture yourself standing in that room? I wonder whether Jesus appeared right in the middle of them or kind of off to one side in a corner. Did He wait around to see how long it would take before someone noticed Him? Who saw Him first? Or did they all see Him at the same time?

However it happened, everyone reacted the same way. They were terrified and frightened (as though it wasn't enough to just be one of these two!). They thought they were seeing a ghost.

And there, in the midst of all their trouble, Jesus speaks out, Peace!

As He had spoken in the middle of the storm, Peace! and the waves were stilled, He now spoke to His disciples to still their worries and fears.

Peace, I am not dead. I am alive, and I am with you! In an instant, everything changed.

Can you hear Jesus speaking to you right now? He is saying, Peace! He is saying, I am with you, even right now, and My presence changes everything.

What is troubling you? Jesus is the answer. His death and resurrection mean the promise of peace no matter what we face. Will you ask Jesus for His peace right now?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for Your peace! Right now in life I am facing trouble and I don't have peace, but I know that You do. Please come, give me Your peace, and help me through my troubles!

Amen

Holey Moley

For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stock and the store, the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water. Isaiah 3:1

What do you think the world looks like when the world stops loving God?

Really, stop and think about that for a second. What do you think that looks like? I think there are a lot of words we could use to describe it, but I'll try one that might be a way of summing it up: Ruin.

Everything falls to pieces, right? When people stop loving God then they stop loving each other. Families break down. Governments become corrupt. Businesses oppress people. Crime rates soar.

You get the picture. But one thing I want you to know today is that the road to ruin involves many steps.

I think for some of us, we think that the road to ruin is like a redeye flight overnight. You wake up and you're there. Not so. The road to ruin happens incrementally, little baby steps at a time. If your marriage is on the road to ruin, it's not going to be ruined overnight. If your business is on the road to ruin, or if your country is on the road to ruin, it's because there are many steps that have been taken.

Now, here's the encouraging thing-each one of these steps provides the opportunity to turn back, to stop going that way, because that way is nothing but misery, catastrophe, heartache, and pain.

Do you realize that God gives us choices? He does! He gives us forks in the road, options that provide an opportunity to come back to Him. In fact, God sent prophets to His people throughout the Old Testament to help them to see their chances to turn around before they ruined themselves. They could have turned around at any moment, and on the rare occasion that they did, God saved them. But when they didn't, He allowed the disaster to come.

In all of that, do you see the constant? The constant is God's heart to save us. He never wavers in that. What varies is whether or not we're listening.

Are you listening to the Lord today, or are you on the road to ruin?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for Your constant heart of compassion toward me! I choose today to listen to Your voice and follow You into Your salvation. Please keep me far from the road to ruin!

Amen

When Excess Is Too Much

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained...Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.' Exodus 16:2-3

I think you're stretching things a bit. Have you ever said that to someone? They tell you some story, and the details just don't add up.

That's what was happening in our verses for today. Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egypt, where they had been slaves for four hundred years. He led them to a beautiful place fit for a resort vacation and they stayed there for a while. Then, a month and a half into their new-found freedom, they complained, saying it would have been better to die in Egypt. And not just that, but they talked about Egypt as though it had been wonderful!

Oh, our bellies were full! We sat by the pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted! It was just all-you-can-eat buffets every day! That was the life! they said.

But you know what; they were stretching it a bit. They forgot to mention the whips, the chains, the unbearable quotas of bricks, the early wake-ups and long hours in the hot equatorial Egyptian sun, and the murderous genocide carried out against them there. I think they were stretching their last memory of Egypt-the Passover dinner-into their whole memory of Egypt.

How many times do we do the same thing? When we get stretched spiritually in our journey of faith with the Lord, do we begin to exaggerate how great life was before this stretching season of our faith was brought on?

Here's the part that really gets me-that Israel actually accused God and Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them. Sure, right. Like I can really believe that one. I mean, if they were stretching it a bit when talking about Egypt, this just stretches things to the breaking point. They actually thought that the God who gave them freedom maliciously had plans to kill them as soon as Egypt was out of sight.

God's plan for Israel was the Promised Land. It just so happens that He had to take them through the wilderness to get there. Ask yourself right now, what are God's plans for you? Where is He taking you? Then consider that, just maybe, if you don't like the stretching season you're in right now, it's not God's plan to leave you there till you die. It's His plan to lead you through it and into all that He has promised.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You have good plans for me! I'm sorry for any way that I have complained about the season that I am in right now. I choose to follow and trust that You will lead me into all that You have promised!

Amen

How to Pray

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:3-4

Imagine someone stopping to give money to a homeless person at an exit off the highway, but before they do, they crank up their stereo and shout out for everyone to hear, Hey, I'm giving five bucks to this homeless dude!

Or what if you're just sitting in church and someone jumps up from their seat, slam dunks their offering in the bag, and shouts out a scream like they're doing a touchdown celebration dance?

Now, don't get me wrong. It's good to be enthusiastic about giving, but is this how giving should go? No. You don't want to do it like that. In fact, Jesus says that's how the hypocrites give. They kind of blow a horn, make a big scene, and dance in the streets. God says they have their glory; they've had their fifteen minutes of fame. But that's all the reward they'll get for their good deed.

So how should we give? Here's how we do it. We do it in secret, so that our Father who sees in secret will reward us. After all, do you prefer the reward of man or the reward of God? I know, it's a silly question, right? But you maybe wouldn't think so if you realized how much people give the wrong way.

And it's not just about giving; it's about praying and fasting, too. Because Jesus goes on to say that the hypocrites would wear their worst clothes, not shower, and make sure their faces looked sad when they fasted so that everyone would know what they were doing. They would pray loudly in public so that everyone would be impressed with how spiritual they were. In other words, all the good things they did were done so that people would like them-God wasn't really even in the picture of their hearts.

Alright, step one-as a church, we have got to be doing good, charitable deeds. We have to be tithing. We have to be giving offerings. We have to be praying. We have to be fasting. And, yes, I said, Have to. Why? Because Jesus didn't say, If you pray, fast, and give; He said, When you pray, fast, and give.

Step two-make sure your heart's right. When you do all those good things that you are now going to do, do them for God, knowing that He not only sees what you do, but the heart with which you do it. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly for all to see.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You have told me what's important to You. Please help me to see opportunities around me to do good for others and let Your Spirit work in my heart so that it will be right before You!

Amen

Lost In Passion

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

One of the highlight events for me every year is our church's Halloween alternative outreach. At one of them in particular, I was blown away by the turnout. Thousands of people came for an alternative to what the world offers.

I saw a guy there as a daddy with his kids and it made me think of something. That's just like a little example of what we're to be providing everyday-an alternative.

This is what our verse is about today. It is telling us the right choice to make, whether to become a temple of God or to unite ourselves to the world. When we choose to truly live out what it means to be God's temple, we show the world an alternative. Our very life declares that there's a better way-a way that leads to everlasting life, out of the pit that we're stuck in and head us towards home.

It's like what so many people have in their vehicles, that GPS navigator, and you've dialed in your destination and on the road you go. All of a sudden, you make a wrong turn. You didn't mean to, you just made a wrong turn and all of a sudden that voice from the navigator starts speaking to you saying, Please return to the highlighted route.

Or you just have no clue where you are. You just don't know where you are and you're lost. And here's what you do.

OnStar. I love that it's called OnStar, like the wise men. We can probably convince ourselves that we know where to go and what to do, but instead we're going to submit now and follow that star. It's going to lead us to a Savior.

This is the Lord today, saying, Please return to the highlighted route. Come home. Uturns are okay. Turn around. Come back.

And you can stubbornly keep going your way and that voice keeps saying, Please return to the highlighted route. Please return to the highlighted route.

I think that after a while the voice would want to say, Hey, stupid, you're lost. Stop the car. Turn around. But here's God pursuing us, ever so patiently, wanting us back, wanting us to come home.

Will you receive His invitation today?

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You can show me the way, because I know that I am very lost! I need Your help to get back to where I'm supposed to be-holding Your hand on Your path of life. Please change my heart, be my Lord, and lead me from this day forward!

Amen