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My wife and I like to help support a missionary couple who
don’t go anywhere. Well, sometimes they
go places, but mostly they’re still here, which leads me to believe that even
God might appreciate irony.
This
past week, they sent us an update on their lives. Along with the update, I was blessed to receive
a small, hand written note, and in this note, they shared this;
“Been
praying for your book studies. Do you
have many takers yet? I can’t come, but
I will pray.”
The
thought occurred to me, that maybe they aren’t the only people interested in
what has been happening in my calling lately.
To answer
the question directly; No. No, I don’t
have many takers. I have chosen 10 other
people to help develop Alien Love’s study guide. The way I have went about it, is I am simply
going through it as if it were a study, but behind it all, I’m doing it as I go
along.
Of
course, from my perspective, it really isn’t about leading a book study. It’s about living into each other’s lives,
and using the opportunity to grow in an authentic love for God and for each other. For those of us who can, we get together
around 4:00pm and do our best to come alongside of each other. We usually have supper around 5:30. During our meal together, we continue talking. At 7:00, we sit down and talk about how the
month’s chapter speaks into our lives.
We pray too. You can’t do
Christian stuff if you don’t pray.
Radical.
I know.
It’s
groundbreaking. I assure you. We talk.
We eat. We talk while we’re
eating. (But we’re not supposed to talk
while our mouths are full. Barb is very
strict about that kind of thing.) We
pray. We talk some more. Some of us go home. For those who stay, we talk some more. They go home.
Barb and I wash the dishes, talk about how wonderful the afternoon and
evening were. We climb into bed and go
to sleep.
In
between our monthly gatherings, I do my best to keep invested in their
lives. Sometimes I get together with
them for coffee or breakfast. Some of
them are texters, so I text them. Or we
talk before, during or after church.
Email works too.
I want
to thank those of you who have been praying for me in my walk with Christ. Through these past few months, I have really
grown in my love for other people, specifically for my family and for my
coworkers. It’s another example of
irony. I mean, I’m told that for most
people, they write books after they know enough about a topic. For me, it’s like God had me write the thing,
and now I’m beginning to understand and live it out. Alien Love was easy to write and probably
easy to read. It’s much harder to live.
My hope
for the future, is that about 50% of the people who take the study, will kind
of graduate. There will be no diploma,
but I hope that they will intentionally seek out and do what they can to
disciple the people in their own lives, whether they be believers at the moment
or not.
As for
me, I feel torn about what might lie ahead, but feel that God has given me
direction for the near future. I really
hope to be able to share Christ with my co-workers in this way, but I also feel
that I have neglected my family for far too long. I mean.
I get together with my Christian family, we talk about Jesus, we eat
together and share our lives together. I’m
being convicted that I need to allow my flesh and blood into my life. Whether or not they want to know the “hooked-on-Jesus”
Kevin, will be up to them. The least I can
do is to extend the invitation.
So I beg of you to continue to
pray. I can’t do this on my own. I’m not just trying to sound spiritual. I really can’t.
I
intend for the study guide to be available for free on the internet, and
probably won’t be producing a print version.
If you want to check out what the guide looks like at the moment, you
can find it here.
Until
next time, remember....even though they have similar spelling, there is a big
difference between gluten and being a glutton.
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