Do You Consider Yourself Sent?

This book, Sent, by Hilary Alan redefined and gave a beautiful but very real and very hard description of what it means to commit to overseas missions for a time.  Going to serve and love others with your whole heart and all that you have.

However, for me, I took so much away from this book in regard to how I live my life as a “sent” disciple right where I am.  Had I considered myself “sent” as a Christian?  I would have previously used the word “sent” to apply to full time ministers in the mission field.  Now I see this word as it applies to my life.  I am a Wife, Mother, Daughter, Employee, Volunteer, etc. just like many of you, but I did not view myself as “sent.”  I now see myself as a “sent” disciple called to give my all for the glory of God each and every day, in all circumstance and in all choices that I make.  Do I live my life on a daily basis and make choices each day as a missions minded individual?  Do I make decisions more often for me or for others?  Where is my focus?  Am I focused on Christ as the authority over each and every day or am I focused on me and allow God to fit into just a piece of my day?   I have made a lot of adjustments, and I have so much more yet to adjust!  I am reminded often that we are only on this earth for a short time.  How am I investing myself for Christ’s sake on this earth in the time that I have?  I now desire to choose to live each day the best that I can for Christ’s sake, for God’s glory.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

Desiring a Healthy Church?

This book provides a lot of helpful information in its later chapters about building and serving in a healthy church ministry.  A good reminder read for anyone involved in the leadership ministry area of their local church.  I was a little disappointed that the book didn't cover the purpose and outpouring of ministry that comes from a church, but perhaps that would have made for just too long of a book!


Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

The Ultimate Game

So there once was a game that we liked to play and we thought it was so much fun!  We played this game as often as we could.  We would always get excited to play the game and we always had fun during the game and when we were done playing we always came away satisfied having enjoyed our time.  We thought this game was soo great that we decided to tell our family and our friends and our neighbors all about this great game!  We described it to them, we told them how much fun it was and we talked about it often.  Each time we got together with people we would tell them all about this game.  Over time though, we became sad because no matter how many good things we told others about this game, they never seemed to enjoy it with us.  They would always kindly listen to us every time we talked about this game but they never seemed to understand the game, and they didn’t contribute to the conversation.  We pondered this long and hard, wondering how we could better help them to understand the game and enjoy it as we did.  Throughout time, neighbors moved out and new neighbors moved in, friends came and went from our lives and family grew up and moved away, and all the while the game seemed to be only something we enjoyed.

Then something clicked!!

Why don’t we invite people to play the game with us!  Then by experiencing the game, they can come to understand it better, and enjoy it as we do!  After trying this out, it seemed that our neighbors and friends and family all really, really enjoyed this game.  They began to tell others about this great game; but not just tell them about it, they invited them to play it with them!  What a difference that makes!

The above visual came to mind today as I was praying and pondering the various avenues of discipleship, and examining my life in regard to this Biblical command.  As a follow up to my thoughts I came up with the following questions for myself.

I have been enjoying my journey with Christ for a long time now, am I just telling others about my journey or am I inviting them to experience a journey with Christ for themselves?

Am I spreading the news of Christ or sharing the experience of Christ?

Our words are important but actions still speak louder than words…..what do my actions on a daily basis say?

It is such a precious gift that I have, to be God’s child and to know and walk with Him each day.  It is an exciting journey that I want to keep learning more about, I keep wanting to spend more time with Christ, I want to continue to study His book, the Bible, and I want to tell others how much joy I receive each time I “play” with my Lord.  Why would I not want to invite those that I love and those that Christ loves to “play” this incomparable game with me?

God, may we all be challenged to invite those we encounter to play the game with us, but not just to play the game….may we teach others the rules the best that we can and encourage those playing with us, to reach out and invite people to play the game with them!

Amen