SOMD CONTINUED...

Well, another week has gone by and things are getting really interesting here in sunny LA. The last week we had quite the crazy week. Sunday morning we woke up to a fire near us, which i'm sure you've all heard of, and we saw God perform miracles in a very sweet way. Twice we had a fire near us and twice the Lord kept us safe and made the fire turn around and go a different direction away from us but also away from the community we live in. Just the other day we were going to church and we saw how the fires had burnt a lot of the mountain side around the city, but there were no homes damaged, even though the fire came as close as 50 feet from the homes. God is awesome and He hears our prayers all the time. It was awesome to see a bunch of people on that Sunday morning, after being evacuated to Denny's, stand outside in the parking lot @ 5am in the morning worshipping and praying and interceeding for the city and then seeing God move in such an awesome way as an answer to our prayers. God, you are good!!!

But because of the craziness of the fires around us, we were able to serve at a shelter that a huge megachurch set up for the evacuees. It was a great sight to see a mega church not care or worry about their carpet and their building as they were having hundreds of people come to them with pets, with their belongings, etc and to see the church love and minister to those people in very practical ways. It was a true "sighting" of real church happening, without selfishness or arrogance, or greed or apathy. They simply did what they knew God has called us all to do...HELP and meet people's needs in practical ways, thus showing God's love to people in tangible ways!

And that is what this week and last weekend classes have been all about. Our ministries should come out of our lives, our experiences with God and our love for Him and others. Ministry is not something that we do, but a way we live. To minister means to serve, to love, to meet people's needs where they're at. Not to preach, not a title, not a profession or a carreer, but a lifestyle.
And that is what Jesus said, "whatever you've seen me do you do also". We need to learn from Him to do ministry. He was about the people and the need they had. Yes, they needed Jesus, and forgiveness and redemption, but they way Jesus brought it was different than we have made it. He hung out with the people, with those who really needed Him, and He loved them and served them, not without speaking the truth of His love to them, but not just with words but actions. James says "faith without works is dead. I believe this to be true. And i believe this is the way i ougtha live my life.

God has called us to serve and minister to the people of Mexico, specifically Cerro Azul. We oughta do it with the knowledge that as we love, serve, give, bless and show Jesus to them through our lives, God will draw the people of Cerro Azul to Him as long as we portray who Jesus truly is. Something i thought about today was this, "if we are God's reflection to people, or at least that is what we ougtha be, then how are people percieving God through us? What is the reflection people are seeing like? What qualities and characteristics of God are people seeing in me? Love? Compassion? Integrity? Mercy? Truth? Freedom? Generosity? Faith? Forgiveness? Patience? Joy? or are we reflecting ourselves in the name of Christianity and Jesus?

HOLISTIC MINISTRY AND GOD'S HEART FOR THE NATIONS

One of the biggest things i believe God has been speaking to me in the last few years is the idea that He's in the business of transformation, not just salvation. It dawned on me after a few years of working with teams of youth that would come down to work with local churches for a week and minister to the people through drama, kid's ministry, door-2-door bible distribution and mercy ministires. It was good work, and we saw many people pray Jesus into their hearts. And i believe some of those prayers were sincere and honest. But i saw a downfall to this kind of ministry. It could become just that...ministry. Numbers. Results oriented. A race for numbers. Don't get me wrong. God works thorugh all of these ways and there's a place and a time for it. But the more i think and meditate on it, the more i believe there should be more to our "ministry" than that. The more i read the word and mediate on what God said through His Son Jesus, "Go and make disciples of all nations", the more i think we are missing something. Somehow the "disciple all nations" has fallen thorugh the cracks, only to give place to "flashy ministry" and "emotional results". The reason why i think this is because i see so many of these souls not being taken care of. Not being followed up with. Not being trained in the things of God's kingdom. As a church, i believed we have failed in the process that it takes a person from hearing about God, opening their hearts to Him and then letting Him come and transform their world and turn it upside down, or inside out. You see, i believe that when the Spirit of God comes into someone's life, it should change and transform the way that person thinks, lives and relates to others. But it should be in a powerful way. Let's say it this way. If the kingdom of God came to that person, and that person lives "kingdomly", wouldn't the way they live, love, speak, act, respond to their world's needs and their community be different? Let's say that if the kingdom of God truly came into a community through the salvation of many and the presence of a body of believers, shouldn't that community be affected by the presence of those who claim they know Jesus?
What are the components present in a community? Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth with a Mission, said there were 7 spheres that influence or are a part of a society; CHURCH, FAMILY, MEDIA, GOVERNMENT, EDUCATION, BUSINESS & THE ARTS. If God comes into our lives and we live in a community that revolves around these 7 areas, then the presence of christians in these spheres should make a difference, right?
That is why this idea of "Holistic" ministry is so right. WE cannot continue in our ways of believing that just by "praying the prayer of salvation", a person is ready to go to heaven and that is it. God called us to live in the world but be not of this world. This did not mean to "be like the world", but to live in this world as Kingdom people, leading the way in the transformation God is wanting to bring to every nation through the discipleship that happens in every area of society through everyday relationships.
Just to quote from the book we have been reading called "His Kingdom Come";
"There are pockets of dynamic disciples in many nations, but there's not one nation on earth today that could be called a truly discipled nation. A discipled nation would have christians in every sphere of society who had been taught to obey every commandment that Jesus taught His original disciples, and they would be free and passionate to be teaching others in every realm of society".
AMEN