missionary

i'm usually not very spontaneous. sometimes not always. last week was a spontaneous week. i decided last monday...to do a rummage sale thursday-saturday. hence my lack of posting. the rummage sale went well. and i'm so glad i threw it together. and i may do it again next weekend. :)

anyways. i didn't want to just blog about that. so here is what's on my heart.

two weeks ago at church our pastor stood up talking about being a missonary. how when you're single it's super easy to be a missonary. because basically you don't have "anyone" to "worry" about. and can pretty much get up and go to wherever. when you're married it gets a bit harder, but if you feel called to do it, you clearly make it work and sometimes even go together. when you have kids, it gets a bit harder yet, but the same thing, if it's what God is calling you to do...off you go.

then he talked about the church and where their first focus on missonary work would be. and he said within the walls of this church. our first mission field is going to be the children's ministry. ((can i just say my heart was filled with excitement over this?)) our church already had a children's ministry, but since the church started four years ago, the children's ministry has grown kid wise, but not space wise...until now. so it was a call for more teachers, helpers, etc for the ministry.

i'll be honest, i never thought about working in the children's ministry, to be considered missionary work. but it so is. making sure the children are being taught a solid foundation about Christ is SO important. of course most children are already getting this at home, but how important is it still that they are also getting it at church? at their level. understanding how much Jesus loves them. how He died for them. so as they grow older that understanding can grow and be taught at "growing levels" instead of sitting through an adult level service. ((our pastor also does not "censor" topics, so there are plenty of times as we've gone through 1 Corinthians sex has been talked about, i think that children shouldn't be sitting through services about that. well young children anyways. so by offering a place for your children to go during church, ((and honestly leaving it up to the parents, there are plenty of older young children in our church that sit through the service)) is an important aspect to a church.

pastor danny had the "leader" of the children's ministry come up and talk and one thing that brian said spoke volumes to my heart:: church is a family. if the church neglects part of the family ((families and children)) why would God allow the church to grow? i really don't think much more needs to be said.

BUT i don't think it means that every church needs to offer an area for children's church. i just think the church needs to make sure that no part of the family is being or feeling neglected. to notice problems, if any arise, and to attempt to take care of them. i think leaders of the church need to be mindful of everything going on in the church, and to be proactive about fixing issues that they see. it is also important for you to go to your leaders of the church as well. but i think it goes both ways in the church relationship, and feel it is important the the leaders are not turning a blind eye to any issues because even though they see them, no one has talked to them, so they just go on their merry way.

every week we attend church, we know we're right where God wants us. and it's such an awesome feeling to have after over a year of "unsureness" and praying.

i've been attending a book club this summer with some women from church too. it's been a lot of fun to get to know more people on a more intimate level. the book we're doing is radical, by david platt.

 wow. is all i can say. we're only on our second chapter. but what i have read so far, has literally changed my life. i highly recommend it...ONLY if you're willing to take a deep long look at yourself and realize how badly this world has taken a God centered gospel and transformed it into a human centered message. how we're molding Jesus into OUR image instead of molding ourselves into the image of Jesus. a nice middle-class Jesus. i've really had my eyes opened by this book! and realized how true those statements are, and how sad. when we're standing in church rasing our hands in worship...are we worshipping Jesus...or ourselves? so if you're ready for a life changing look at your life...pick up the book.
((this is not a "paid advertisement" or solicited review but my heart on this book, mr platt has no idea i did this. and all opions are my own. :) ))

whew. sort of a heavy post. but i wanted to blog about it. so there it is.

have a radical day!! :)