Mere Missions

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

3. Discipline yourself to a Church Community. As I mentioned earlier, there is no missions apart from the Church. Who else is going to know and assess the calling for missions upon an individual than the leadership of a local church who knows everything about the potential church planter (Acts 13:1-3)? They’re going to know if they have “been with Jesus”; can “feed themselves spiritually upon the Lord Jesus;” have seen them unwavering in the Lordship of Jesus during the battle challenges of life; and can witness their godly life and faithfulness to the Church. 4. Discipline yourself to create a personal library of Christian devotional classics. There have been a host of saints who have gone before us whose writings are timeless and a must read for any follower of Jesus who seeks a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” I have a small, simple, library of devotional classics that I read over and over. There are nuggets I mine each time I read them. These are the books that the Holy Spirit uses to conform, reform, and transform my walk with Jesus as I journey to, “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11.10).

Connection Story It was 1982, my first year on staff. I moved into the Single Men’s Home which was nestled in the African American section of Wichita, Kansas. I didn’t know Tee well, like the other staff. In fact,

I’m not sure if that was her birth certificate name. All I knew is that she was an elderly saint who took care of her invalid daughter who was bedridden for over forty years. She was small in stature and looked frail. Her home must have been less than 600 square