We’re still here at Shari’s parents’ home, and last night we were looking at some home movies. This is Shari and her brother Jeff.
Here’s a brief glimpse – not great quality, and no sound. Of course, these days you use sophisticated computer techniques to get a look like this! 😉
The show starts with Shari blowing bubbles (with bubble gum), then we see some shots of Christmas…
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When it comes to serving the Lord, what’s do we need to concentrate on the most? This post is the second in a series – read the introduction here.
So are results the most important thing? From my perspective, this aspect of ministry has suffered over the years from both overemphasis and more often underemphasis. Most of the time it seems it’s been almost taboo to focus on results of ministry. You know, the dreaded “number-counting“, for example. And I won’t deny, results is on the bottom of my list in order of importance. But that doesn’t mean they’re not important – they are.
We know that results are important to God. After all, He sent His Son to get results. He loved us so much He wanted us to be saved into a relationship of love with Him. There’s no doubt that He planned history with the end in mind.
But as believers we can’t put results first on the list. If that was the case, the end would justify the means. In other words, we’d tend toward shallow methods and shallow results, because our focus would be more on the visual.
We would also struggle with different attitudes, depending on how good our results were. If we had poor results, that would lead to a feeling of helplessness and despair – we did all we could, and it was all for nothing. If we have good results, overemphasis would lead to pride. Look where our brilliant plans and strategies brought us! No, results are important, but not that important. Not from our perspective.
Underemphasis of results can cause problems too, however. I don’t know about you, but I always heard stories of the poor missionary who faithfully handed out tracts for 40 years with no converts. Only after he’s gone are there any visible results from his ministry. The moral? God wants us to serve Him faithfully, results or no results.
Sure, that’s true. And we’ll get to that in another post. But the story ignores how helpful results can be as a signpost in our service. Good results do not “prove” that what we’re doing is right (after all, look how many people flock to churches that don’t teach the Word of God!). And bad results don’t “prove” that what we’re doing is wrong. But it may give an indication.
At one point in His ministry, Jesus had a strategy for His disciples. He sent His disciples to a city, and told them that if they weren’t listened to they should move on (see Matt 10:14). This is an example of how results can be used to help us strategize. If we’re not seeing fruit, we should take a good look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. It may be we need to continue the same way in spite of “visible” results. But God also may be showing us that there’s a better way. It’s not wrong to evaluate what we’re doing, as long as we evaluate it under God’s direction (more on this next time). Bad results may be a warning that something more important in our lives is lacking, as we’ll see.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says,”Let your light so shine before men”. Why? “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” That’s results. Not always visible, not always something you can count, but certainly important. Then again, when it comes to planning our service to the Lord, it’s not the most important thing…
We are on the road, on Highway 21 somewhere south of Three Hills, Alberta. We’ve packed up everything that we want to store, and a couple of kids (except we won’t be storing them). We’re taking everything to Saskatchewan. Storage lockers are cheaper there, and our things will be closer to where our families are.
There weren’t too many lockers left in the area I was looking. I called one place that had 1 locker left the size I wanted, and the lady I spoke to said I was the 3rd of 4th caller asking about it that same day. So I called her back and reserved it. Praise the Lord! Things could have been a lot more complicated
So now back in Cochrane we only have things we’re getting rid of or things that are coming with us to Mexico. Most of the Mexico load is already packed and sealed, which is a good thing, because when we return we’ll only have a couple of weeks before we leave. And let me tell you, those will be busy days!
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we’ll be with Shari’s parents and sister this weekend (Thanksgiving weekend here). Of course, we’re delighted that it worked out that way. Next weekend we’ll be with my parents (we’ll just extend Thanksgiving a little), and we’ll be sharing at Provost Associated Gospel Church.
This is the first big test of our trailer. It’s looking like our electrical problem is in the trailer itself. That’s mostly good news – the repairs should be covered by warranty, and it should be simpler to track down than the same problem in the van. The bad news is that we couldn’t get it done before we go. It will mean 2-3 hours (or more) of driving to take it in and time waiting for it to be fixed. If we can’t get our rear running lights (and dash lights) working today, we’ll use our hazards when it gets dark tonight.
Anyway, we’re very thankful that we got everything packed and loaded. That will be another big job out of the way, getting these things stored. The next time we load our trailer, it will be for our drive south.
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When it comes to serving the Lord, what’s the most important thing? That’s going to seem like a very broad question, but I’ll clarify … eventually.
For a number of months – well, I guess it’s years now – I’ve been thinking through an article on the topic of what’s most important. It’s been hard to focus on for long enough to actually complete, so I thought I’d start putting the ideas here so that I can get your input. I’m planning to publish several posts on the topic, and I’ll tag them with The most important thing so you can find them all. I encourage you to leave your comments.
As I’ve thought through this topic, I’ve realized more and more that it’s of key importance to every Christian. We need to understand our priorities, understand what the Lord expects of us – where those expectations begin and end. I’ve frequently seen how some things have been overemphasized, or underemphasized, and how that can cause problems. It’s easy to confuse priorities, to expect too much of ourselves, to be knocked down with pride or despair, just because we don’t understand really what’s important and how important it is. I’ve heard sermons that have left the wrong impression because the speaker doesn’t seem to have these things in mind.
As you can guess, I think that knowing what’s most important is … well … important! It’s important for those that want to evaluate a person in full time ministry, a strategy, a program … any kind of service. It’s a difficult and very controversial thing when a church or organization tries to evaluate someone’s ministry. But it’s even important when an individual looks at their own lives of service – trying to be effective in the work God has called them to.
One reason I’ve been reluctant to post on this topic is because it’s hard to understand if you can’t see the whole picture, and it’s hard to get across the full picture in a few words. No doubt I’ve left most of you in complete confusion, but bear with me over the next few posts on this topic and everything should become a little clearer. Clear enough, anyway, that you should be able to tell me where I’m right and where I’m wrong!
But the main idea of what we’re going to look at is this – when it comes to serving the Lord, what’s important, how important is it, and what’s more important and most important? I have several specific things in mind. They’re all important, but some things are more important than others. Overemphasis and underemphasis of each thing can cause problems. The next post will explain the first thing (and, I hope, start to clear up the confusion). Stay tuned!
When we first came to Calgary, there were a few, then they seemed to disappear for a while. Now they’re popping up all over the place, and there’s no possible way we could ever eat at them all. No doubt part of the reason is that more and more Mexicans are coming to live in Calgary.
Anyway, from the ones that we have tried over the past few years, here’s what we think…
There are many more – have you tried one you liked? Disagree with the order I put these in? Leave a comment!
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Sometimes it seems like things in life can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. For example, our van.
We mentioned in our last couple of newsletters that we have to cover the rest of our one-time expenses (officially known as Outgoing Funds), as well as pay for van repairs. When we bought the van, we knew some repairs would need to be done, but it ended up being a lot more than expected. The result? A van that’s in excellent shape that should be a great ministry tool for years to come. The other result? We have a LOT of repair bills that need to be paid off now.
Now it seems that there are some electrical issues. Translation? It’s something as minor as a few lights, major enough that we need to get it fixed right away. It’s minor enough that it could just be a loose connection somewhere, but if you know anything about electrical problems in vehicles (which I don’t really, but I know this), you know that it could take hours of labour just to find the problem. That means another big bill.
Technically, there is no day free when we could take it in between now and our trip to Saskatchewan. And we may not be able to get it in that soon anyway. But I’ll try to make an appointment to get it dealt with as soon as I can.
As we get closer to leaving (just over 4 weeks), it seems that all the blessings and trials are compressed into a smaller space (though no doubt we’ll see in eternity that what we thought were "curses" were actually blessings). You may have read on our More news page about the challenges of getting one minor thing done (and I have had to add to this page, apparently the story isn’t over yet!) Recently, a CAM missionary in Guatemala wrote,"the enemy never takes God-driven missions endeavors sitting down." It’s true – it seems as we get closer to leaving the enemy is showing he’s not pleased. And it’s not because we’re brilliant, talented missionaries. It’s because God wants to use people who can’t do it on their own – He wants to work though us, and through you.
But it reminded me of the story of Stephen, the early martyr of the church, in Acts 7. Just before he died he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. American music artist Ray Boltz wrote a song about Stephen – how it seemed like no one was one his side – but "someone stood up for Stephen".
I’m not sure that’s exactly why Jesus was standing – but we know this much. He allowed Stephen to see Him – in all His power and beauty, and so Stephen did know that Jesus, the All-Powerful, was on his side.
So no doubt the enemy doesn’t take these things sitting down – but neither does our Lord. And who’s the most powerful? There’s no doubt. So please join us before the throne to pray about these things.
