Mere Missions

52 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

Though the Apostle Paul counted all things as loss compared to being endeared to the Lord Jesus, he worked harder than all the other Apostles (I Cor. 15.10). Endearment doesn’t mean seclusion or missions inactivity. The closer we get to the Lord Jesus the clearer we hear His heartbeat. “For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son,” is the beat of the rhythm of His heart. This rhythm becomes our rhythm and like Paul we cry out, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor. 5.14-15). All our activity, identity, direction, fruitfulness will flow out of our devotion to abide in the Lord Jesus who is the Lord of the Harvest. The world, the flesh, and the enemy seek to draw us away from this Apostolic Missions Platform for the source of life and missions and to find it in other people, places, or things. The Spirit only does what he hears and sees Jesus doing. Do not think you can participate in missions apart from your endearment to the Lord Jesus. Fight for this. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4.8).

Connection: Rules of Engagement (ROE)

If you were looking from the outside-in, it was a strange looking scene: A young white guy, blonde hair, and blue eyes, 130 pounds at 5'9½"

(almost 5'10"), with boundless energy running back-and-forth on the court playing mid-night basketball with gang guys that I would pick up from the mean streets in the “Devil’s Half-Mile,” the community where Susan and I lived. To say the least, I was completely out of place. The life and world view of these gang guys was as opposite in direction as the North Pole is from the South Pole. I don’t even have any tattoos or scars (bullet or knife).