Today, Tim and I, along with our friend, Kathy, skipped going to church. Why? Did we just feel like being service-skipping heathens and decide to sleep in late? After all, I’ve been prepping for summer semester at the university while working on some publishing projects, and Tim has worked double shifts from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm the past two days and had to go in at 3:00 pm this afternoon. So why not skip it “just this time”?
Actually, we didn’t skip church at all. We just did it a different way. Instead of going to a service for church, we had been invited to be out on the frontlines participating in an evangelistic outreach. A week or so ago, some new friends of ours, Jami and Sinclair Salters, told us about the outreach they were helping some friends with and invited us to join them. So, having never met their friends, Ron and Tam Waters of Strong Tower Ministries, nor knowing anything about what we’d be doing, we simply said yes. That’s all God asks of us — our yes.
As the days rolled by this week, I experienced a growing sense of excitement and anticipation at what God was going to do. While I truly enjoy fellowshipping with other followers of Christ in church, I get really excited about seeing things happen outside the four walls. Jesus’ last words to us were to go into all the world and make disciples. He didn’t say to sit in church and wait for people to come. He told us to go, to compel them to come into the Kingdom. And it was about more than just getting them saved. It was about pouring into their lives and meeting needs. It was about facilitating transformation.
This morning came, and we got ready to greet the 95-degree weather head on. When we arrived, we saw Sinclair immediately, and he introduced us to his friend, Curtis, who also operates a ministry called Godspeed separately from the Salters’ and the Waters’. Since I still didn’t know much yet about any of them, I didn’t yet see the beauty of a very specific aspect of this outreach, but as the day wore on, it all came into focus. And it was compelling. God was showing me a very real picture of how His Kingdom operates.
A few evenings ago, I was strolling around my apartment complex as twilight fell. I was praying and just spending time with the Lord, sensing His presence nudging softly at me. As I came around the corner, I saw the sprinklers come on just ahead, and though I had seen this common phenomenon many times, that evening, I found myself mesmerized. I knew that He was trying to open my eyes to something, so I stopped and just observed.
Some of the sprinklers were set to rotate slowly from side to side, spraying a steady stream at about a 45-degree angle. They reached far, watering the landscape out from them. Then I noticed another variety of sprinkler. It was lower to the ground and rotated slowly, each sending out several very slight sprays in a spiral formation. It sprayed so delicately that it reminded me of someone twirling a dandelion and watching the little white fluffy seeds blow off into the wind. And then I noticed yet another type of sprinkler. It shot forcefully straight up in the air, like Old Faithful, the famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park. This stream went high and rained down water around its own base, creating a puddle beneath.
I kept watching, letting my eyes drift from sprinkler to sprinkler, noticing their patterns and strategic placements. The delicate spiral sprayers were only in the flower beds or around the tenderest plants and bushes, so as not to flood them too much. The geysers were in big patches of green grass where the water would spread out and drain evenly over the next few hours. And the angled ones shot refreshing water further out into the taller bushes that bordered the parking lot. Each type was configured for a specific purpose and operated uniquely, yet all had a common, unifying purpose — to bring life-giving water to a thirsty creation.
Many talented musicians and performers such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse lost their opacc.cv cialis prescription lives to drug overdose. Right and india pharmacies levitra effective medicine Through the first two paragraphs, we can know urinary tract infection is not only popular in women, but also common for men. generic tadalafil cheap Take for examples, sticky liquids and corrosive liquids. Imagine if Pfizer had to stop manufacturing opacc.cv generic cialis online, which they sell at $20-$30 per pill, and instead make use of internet to cialis without prescription . generic cialis online medications are now easily available at many online drug stores that provide free shipping when you order Propecia online, it is important to remember that I wasn’t there when it happened.As I began to see the individual purposes, the Holy Spirit showed me that this is precisely how it is to be in the Kingdom. There are all the varieties of ministries, and within each variety, there are specific ministries that fit the pattern of that variety. At the end of the day, they all bring Living Water in their own way.
Today, that’s what I witnessed. Jami and Sinclair minister in one way. Ron and Tam minister in another. And Curtis ministers in yet another way. Yet, they came together in peaceful, perfect unity for a common cause: the advancement of the Kingdom of God.
There were some who gave their lives to Christ and at least one other who rededicated her life to the Lord. Many had testimonies of how God had saved them, healed them and kept them. Some shared their dreams and aspirations. All fellowshipped and ate delicious steak and chicken right off the grill. For the hours we were there, I kept watching the kids, acutely aware that they are the future leaders of this nation. Any one of them could grow up to be a Ben Carson or Billy Graham or Heidi Baker or Joyce Meyer. They will be teachers, doctors, governmental leaders and entrepreneurs. But for today, they were just kids, playing and getting their fill of hot dogs, cotton candy and the love of Jesus.
What a great way to spend a Sunday! Being the Church in action, each ministry doing what God had purposed for them, and participating in bringing the Gospel into the community was SUCH a blessing.
In closing, I just want to say this. We’re all different, but God has called us to be about His business. In a true Kingdom model, all we need to do is function as He has purposed for us to function and all the pieces will fit together. There is no competition or vying for attention, and we won’t all do everything. There is no striving. There is simply a common goal as we make Him and His Love known in unity. As a friend of mine recently said, “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
And today, the dream worked beautifully.
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