WorldVenture Archives - Page 12 of 17

#PrayALong Today As I Explore Phoenix Churches

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. – Hebrews 10:25

A #PrayALong is important as our churches and their staff need people to pray for them as they serve their community. As a church secretary and now missionary appointee, I understand the importance of church.

I still remember the first time I walked into the church I work at and how the pastor’s wife sat with me through the whole service. Pastor’s wives were always in the front row and I never knew them. This pastor’s wife engaged me in conversation, sealing the deal for me, stopping my church-hopping habits. I had sworn that I would never join a church until a church accepted me. God had plans for me in this church and He one-upped me by sending the pastor’s wife.

Of course, it was the expository teaching from the pastor that soon re-defined church for me and clarified who Jesus Christ is. It was like something clicked, a missing piece fell into place, as I listened to the Word being taught from the pulpit while sitting in a hard, wooden pew. The Bible came alive for me. God had a name. And I met my husband and we both became believers.

Can I tell you that you won’t get hurt in church?

I can’t promise this because we are all people and we make mistakes. Haven’t you ever said something to someone else you wish you didn’t? I wouldn’t be who I am without the church who made me and the church I worship at. Both churches helped me through rough patches in my life. The fellowship is priceless. In church, we learn together how to be the body of Christ.

So, as I go around the city of Phoenix today, as people online pray for each church I visit, if you would like to talk to me about church, you can email me or private message me.

Pokemon Go Teaser

Pokemon Go is making headlines right next to the Turkey Coup. And like every trending thing that has to do with technology, Pokemon Go split the social media group into two parties: Happy Pokemon hunters and scathing, angry anti-Pokemon people.

I’ve been experimenting with Pokemon Go, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the July 31 edition of TRC Magazine here.

What About Christian Basics?

Part of my requirements as an appointee was to read each chapter of Wayne Grudem’s, Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know and relate it back to someone else.

Many thanks to Pastor Dave Droste of Solid Rock Christian Fellowship for volunteering to talk over each chapter with me. I enjoyed the back and forth conversations, and even got a course correction in my own theology. It’s so easy to think you understand something in the Bible and realize you’ve misunderstood its meaning for years.

Maybe that’s why, besides free or affordable education, I have started a database of logging full scholarship opportunities I find as I seek to find affordable options to getting a degree in Biblical Studies. Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know simplified the Christian belief system for me.

I bought the paper version so I can mark it up and dog-ear it for future reference. In conversations online, you have the generosity of time. Online conversations don’t have to be replied to right away like face-to-face conversations. I can have a browser open to research questions I lack answers to, and even this book next to me to refer to my highlights and notes. Because online is about community, what Christian Beliefs said on page 91 resonated with me:

“Not all gospel calls are effective. The job of believers is to explain the gospel message; it is God’s job to make that message call effective.”

Grudem uses Acts 16:14 to explain:

“The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.”

Acts 16:14 was talking about Lydia, the seller of purple:

“A seller of purple – Purple was a most valuable color, obtained usually from shellfish. It was chiefly worn by princes and by the rich, and the traffic in it might be very profitable. Compare the Isaiah 1:18 note; Luke 16:19 note. (from here)“

This section was a reminder to me to make prayer a priority in my life. Without prayer, I discovered the gospel call is empty. It can so easily become about us as the savior instead of Jesus as the Savior. In Perspectives, I learned God prepares the people’s hearts for the missionaries to come and harvest by putting into place bridges in that people’s culture and history for God’s people to point out and draw them to Himself. It reminds me daily I have no power, but Jesus.

In this ministry of online work, I get to disciple people, and for me to do so effectively, I must continually educate myself in the Bible, make prayer a priority, and honor a “flexible Sabbath.”

My vision is to mobilize the church to get online for discipleship and prayer and to bring the community online into a fellowship of faith through community and service. I believe social media is a positive force if used well, and a balance between the online world and the face-to-face world is important for our development as humans.

Conversation with an Angry Man

People are shorter on patience and quicker to resentment and anger to the point of retaliation. The post on a public Facebook group was just that: an angry man who resented someone for parking crookedly and wanted to zip tie a shopping cart to their door.

He compared it to causes such as women’s rights or civil rights. It wasn’t a joke. His language and overall attitude were serious. Most people would have ignored the post (or reported him to the police), but I used social media to try to bridge the gap and find out what was really wrong. Instead of using social media to be negative, I tried to be compassionate. This is what social networking should resemble.

Businesses, non-profits, and even churches use social networking mostly as a way to market their brand or vision. As a writer, I (and others) recognized how short-sighted Christians were in this field. When our focus is only on the brand, we forget the people.

In a business article recently, I read about how customers want a relationship with the business through social networking. The catch phrase is, relationship. As Christians, we have a large presence online, but its overall impression is that each church or non-profit is separate and competing rather than an impression of unity in Christ.

I know what goes on behind the scenes. There’s more unity than most people understand. People believe impressions. That’s why reputations online are shredded in minutes when a video goes viral that doesn’t tell the whole story. Or when people bad mouth their church, it joins with other voices bad mouthing church, creating another impression.

How we respond online makes a difference, but not everyone will be satisfied. Even if you are polite and kind, non-believers still think Christians are “yes” people. Love means something different to the secular group. If we don’t give in to everything, we aren’t “loving” enough.

Most people wouldn’t do, out of love, what Jesus did for us. He knew when to turn the cheek and when to speak the truth. God help us as we navigate this world.

My only regret in the above mentioned conversation is that the post was quickly deleted. I had hoped the angry man would have seen my request for him to email me. Maybe we could have gone deeper into what was really wrong.

Social Media Tip: Look for a Facebook group for your town or city or neighborhood. Join it. It’s the modern version of neighborhood get-togethers.

What is a Flexible Sabbath?

One of my challenges in this transitional part of my life is to practice a “flexible Sabbath.” Most people work five days a week. They have two days off with their spouse or family. I work 36-hours a week, Monday through Thursday. This leaves Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to raise financial partners and work the ministry under my stewardship. My husband and I share only one day off together because of his schedule. With all this going on, two people challenged me to take my Sabbath seriously.

Afterall, God took one day off.

In a sermon by Pastor Dave Droste, I realized I was giving 80% instead of a 100% due to so much happening in my life. I am far from burned out and far from exhausted. Energy and creativity course through me like lava from a tube; impatient, eager, and wanting to live, bursting from the dead earth in color and heat. I can’t live at that speed and so I decided to practice this spiritual discipline for longevity.

By practicing a flexible Sabbath, I take, for instance a Sunday off around appointments that are unavoidable. This weekend, I plan on taking part of Sunday off and a few hours on Saturday morning off from missionary work and financial partnership work. I know this is healthy. Slowing down a little will challenge me to be more creative in how I get everything done. Instead of taking some evenings during the week off, I use that time to get some blogging finished.

Church: The Tour #PrayALong

PRAY-A-LONG Phoenix
July 29

The purpose of this tour is to: 1) Pray for the churches I visit to reach the different people groups in their area. 2) Connect people who have no church with the different churches in the Phoenix area through social media interaction and sharing of visuals. 3) Pray the church or its individuals choose to financially partner with me.

The ministry I work cannot be done by one person, but through partnership with WorldVenture. The internet is the new mission field. We’ve always known it, but we’ve been slacking on doing something about it. Help me help others realize the vision!

This is a private event, but I am excited to say about ten people will be praying for every church I visit on July 29.

July Wilderness Trekking Video (Episode 2)

Episode two of the Wilderness Trekking Video Series will be available on my Youtube channel about mid-July. Our focus is a married couple this time who will share an amazing story.

I wish I could tell you the question given to them to answer on our video. I can tell you that we will be hiking the Mingus Mountains.

The Wilderness Trekking Video series, if you are new here, is a series of videos about 2-6 minutes in length that features the trail and the story of the individual we take hiking.

Again, we don’t care if you wish to share the video with your friends privately or share the video in front of a church or a group. We create so we can give freely and generously.

Of course, we wouldn’t be able to create without the generosity of a community of artists who create the music we add to it. Check out Free Music Archive!