June 28: Guest Blogger

Mike and Jana would again like to thank Pastor Jef for taking
their ramblings and drawing them all together in some sort of cohesive post.

When conversation turns to mission, outreach, witness there is a growing understanding among Christians that the fields of harvest are right outside our door. We don’t have to go overseas (although there is great benefit in doing so) to share God’s love with persons who sit in darkness. We live right in the middle of one of the darkest places in the world. We just don’t acknowledge it because our material affluence distracts us from an intentional examination of our own spiritual luminosity or lack thereof (as individual believers and as the current edition of the body of Christ).

Being honest to the point of being brutal, some of us likely don’t have to step through the door of our church or our home to interact with someone who is missing the love of God in their lives. In fact, we can draw a lesson from Pogo the Possum as he observes on a walk through a section of garbage-filled swamp with Porky Pine, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” You and I can observe that “we have met someone who is not fully connected in God’s love…and s/he is us.” Indeed, are we not all sinners [who] fall short of the glory of God?

Understanding that we are sinners does not and should not prevent us from intentionally walking the path that draws us closer and closer to God and growing more Christ-like day by day. That is part of the beauty of being written into the salvation story – God hears our cries for forgiveness and grace flows; God looks at us and chooses to see us as whole and holy; God understands our fears and gives us comfort and courage and companions to help us move on and move up.

This process of spiritual maturation works best when we know God through a lens of history and theological interpretation (the Bible is a great resource for this) and we know God through personal interaction and contemplation (regular prayer/dialogue, meditation, conversations with others who are on the same path in life). After all, you can’t go door-to-door selling vacuum cleaners if you know nothing about them, can you? Likewise, you can’t be a vital faith witness for Jesus if you don’t know any more about Jesus than the friends you are talking to about how he provides direction for your life.

I leave you with a short slideshow titled, The Interview with God.

This meditation holds the hopes and prayers I have for each of you and for all humanity. Let God bless you today.