First off let me just say that it was really hard to concentrate on the speaker this week because I knew that we were leaving for Ireland so soon. In fact at the time of me typing this it's weird to think that I'll be in Ireland within the next day. It's pretty great though. Anyways, back to the actual point of this post, to talk about the week. So this week we had the great privilege of hearing from David Marvin who works as the young adult coordinator at Watermark Community Church. He was young (26 I believe) and a great communicator so it was really easy to stay engaged with him as he spoke. Basically the main point of his three days of speaking was missions. He tried to greatly emphasize that we are on a mission trip our whole lives and missions isn't just over seas.
1) Charles Spurgeon said, "You are either a missionary or a mission field." This is a really great quote and does a great job of pointing out the fact that our whole lives, as Christians, should be missional. It's always been a small pet peeve of mine when someone looks at missions as only a thing you go overseas or out of state for, but it is so much more than that. Going downtown in the city you live to help the poor is a mission trip, or even going next door to your neighbor and breaking bread with him is a mission trip.
2) I really liked when David made the point that we (this generation) are the stewards of the church. When we are done and gone we will have either left the church better or worse than you found it. It's a crazy thought but rings true. We have the keys in our hands, are we going to take care of the church? Or are we going to just leave it in rubbles?
3) Chuck Swindoll said, "The best thing you can do in ministry is know who you are, be who you are, and like who you are, because that's all you are." I really like this quote because it challenges me. Lot's of times it's much easier for me to point out my flaws and not my strengths, but it's important to know my own strengths and like who I am.
4) Only about 14% of the 450,000 churches in America have any plan of outreach. This is a statistic that David gave us and it really surprised me. Maybe since I've been blessed with going to my own church (Bridgeway) I haven't realized how some other churches work, but it really is sad to see this. I know my own church has an outreach plan and we have even had classes on it, but to think so many churches don't have this is really sad and, in my opinion, needs to be corrected.
5) Fives C's that are necessary for a man of God. Committed to God's Word, Committed to God's people, Creative in expressions, Committed to the uncommitted, and Contributes the time, talents, and treasures. Those are five really good things to self examine with. I know I could greatly use improvement with all these areas and I now can encourage those around me to grow in those five areas as well.
Well that is it this time folks. I apologize for the short and brief post but I'm a little bit distracted with the thought that I'll be in Ireland for a whole month...yeah, sorta a big deal. I may write a random blog post while I'm there, but no guarantees. I have a post in the works right now but I want to make sure I do a great job on it so patience. Peace out
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