Sunday, October 25, 2009

Ouch.



hello blogging world.
its been a while.
you look nice.
i see you've lost some weight.

why such a long hiatus you ask?
it really just boils down to the fact that i forgot that i had a blog.
and while pondering through something today (which is the point of this post, we'll get to it after the introduction) i thought to myself, "this would be good to blog about. i wish i had a bl... oh wait!"

so after 13 minutes of trying different passwords i finally found a winner.
and here we are.

now, on to the meat.

last tuesday, tnt (our bcm's weekly worship service) featured several students who participated in summer missions last summer sharing about their widely varying experiences. i heard lots of amazing stories and was inspired in so many ways, but the thing that stuck out to me the most was an off hand comment made by Jared Kingsley. Jared spent a large part of his summer in China teaching english at a school, and at one point while he was sharing he made the statement, "it just hurt not to be able to share the gospel."

i dont remember what the reason that he couldnt share was, whether by some rules or simply the language barrier, but that thought has been stuck in my head since then.

"it just hurt not to be able to share the gospel"

wow.

i live in a country where i have every right, as well as every ability, to share the gospel wherever i want, whenever i want, and with whomever i choose yet so often i just let this opportunities slip by me. i ignore the subtle nudge (as well as the occasional not-so-subtle shove) of the holy spirit. i tell THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE "nah, i really need to get to class" or "i dont want to create an uncomfortable situation" or my personal favorite "it isnt necessary for me to use words because im sharing the gospel by the way i live my life"
(i dont in any way want to hate on St. Fran, but i think this is often our favorite cop-out as Christians)

why dont we share our faith more?
fear?
pride?

Father,
create in us a void. a longing that drives us to share our faith. allow us to know the pain of not being able to share our faith so we will no longer take opportunities for granted. and give us the courage to act each and every time we feel your spirit lead. we love you, and we praise you for who you are.

amen

3 comments:

  1. This is good, Mike. The same thing stuck out to me when Jared said that. Jordy said while in Haiti that we so often take for granted that we speak the same language as everyone around us! ha! But thanks for sharing this. I really want to be more bold and intentional, so that it HURTS me not to share with others. I am praying for that supernatural compassion for other people.

    you are cool. thanks. kbye

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  2. I feel blessed to have you for a grandson. You are very special.

    Love you, Bamp

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