Active Faith

Living the Gospel

2011-08-11T10:25:00.000-05:00

Just last night I spent 30 minutes leading a devotional service as one of our care facilities in Stoughton. We sang together, we prayed together, we talked about scripture, and we talked about our lives. Today, I'll spend four hours playing with some of Covenant's children. We'll play, we'll splash, we'll snack, we'll watch a movie - whether we even talk about God's Word is still up in the air.

And yet, I can make this comparison between both events - they are both living the Gospel. Sometimes it's really easy to speak the Gospel (or least speak it as it relates to you) and it seems much more challenging to live out the Gospel through our actions - living the Gospel involves work!

On the other hand, my heart has no difficulty recognizing opportunities to live the Gospel, whereas my mind, on occasion, struggles with the interpretation of the written Word. Living the Gospel may be a lot of work, but it's easy to see the opportunities - they are all around!

Two Days Faithfully Completed

2011-07-20T07:04:00.000-05:00

I marvel at the servant attitudes of young people. More and more it is clear to me that their hearts are filled with a deep need to make a difference in the world, even if it is in the life of just one person or the lives of one family. This rang true today, as they finished their second day of work in the hot sun - completing their roofing project (the coordinators of the project thought that it would take our group 3-4 days, little did they know!) - and getting to within a few hours of completing our siding tear-of/insulation project. Not a complaint about the heat, not a complaint about the work, just faithful servanthood. They get it, that this trip isn't about them, it's about making a difference, and it's about serving, following, and obeying the commands Jesus has given us. So often we get caught up in believing that youth are about youth, and they don't see the bigger picture. To which I'd say, look a little closer, and I think you'll see something different!

Let's Get to Work!

2011-07-18T03:58:00.000-05:00

Arriving in Houghton, Michigan yesterday, with temperatures around 90, I thought, "how are the 30 of us going to be able to work outside, for some on a roof, in this kind of heat? I'm pretty sure I can't do it!" And yet, that question isn't even on the mind of our youth, who come looking to have some fun, but most of all, come with servant hearts, looking to make even a small difference in someone's life this week. From what we've been told already, our mere presence here on this Mission Trip has already made a difference to the two families we will be serving initially - they are simply amazed that we would choose to come to Houghton, to help them.

And help them with will, as we transform ourselves as well. We've been told that the forecast for today is high temps around 83 - much nicer than the 95 we were expecting. We'll be energized, and ready to get to work: God's work, our hands.