The Great Commission

I have heard several messages lately about The Great Commission, given to us by our Messiah, Jesus Christ. That has always been a strong calling on my life--to take seriously and do my best to fulfill that purpose. Though it has not always been on the forefront of my actions, I have strived to make it so in the last few years. This ministry is a big part of my effort--at times I see the harvest being gathered, but at other times I feel as though I am watering and planting in vain. Ministry can be a very discouraging area if you forget, even for a second, that He is in control and obedience is ALWAYS fruitful, even if not in the way we expect it to be. I confess that there are moments when I do forget that. This is not one of those moments!! I am blogging now because tonight seems to me to be one of the most fruitful days of ministry I can remember. Well, in actuality it is probably not the MOST fruitful, but I have the tendency to always think that when I am experiencing the sheer joy that comes from reaping the harvest. So maybe tonight wasn't as awesome as the day we saw God multiply our food like He did with the fishes and loaves of the Bible, or as awesome as the huge event where over 100 people gave their life to the Lord, but right now, in this moment, this feels like the most awesome day of my life! So, I am going to call this one of our most fruitful days and try to give you a few small glimpses of what took place today. Earlier in the week I received two calls from my kids. Now, that in and of itself is not unusual, since I tend to get calls/texts/messages from my kids almost 24/7. My job (as a therapist and as a minister) is very much an "on-call" one. I don't really get days off, but that doesn't bother me at all. One of the calls was from a young lady who asked me to take her to Pastor Zakk to have him pray the prayer of Salvation with her. The other call was from a young man who is facing possible criminal charges for a crime he did not commit. I didn't see them until tonight, so I was able to sit in as Pastor Zakk ministered to that young lady and prayed with her as she recommitted to live for Jesus. These are the moments I live for!! Later on, I was able to minister to the young man and pray with him about his situation. I also had the opportunity to minister to another young lady who is pregnant and very afraid for her future. I prayed with her, as well. When I returned from praying with her I saw that a young man who has been in and out of AWO (and when in almost always causes problems--fighting with the other kids, causing division, and is in and out of trouble, too) was down front at the altar being prayed over. What?! He has been asked to stay out of church and has had to miss events due to his behavior--he has been known to break out in push ups in the middle of a sermon, curse at a pastor, climb on the van, and other rather unacceptable behavior. But I never give up on him and continually encourage him to come to church, to be more involved, to turn away from the things he is involved in. Not only was I surprised that he even came to church but I was SHOCKED to see him down at the altar. Apparently, while I was absent, he had been literally broken by the Holy Spirit moving and had sobbed and submitted himself to Jesus. He went down for prayer again at the end of the service and was at the altar when I walked back in. I waited until he was finished to hug him and tell him how proud I was of him. As I hugged him he said, "I want to be baptized!" I wanted to jump up and down! But I restrained myself and took him back to Pastor Zakk to talk about setting up a baptism for him. I feel that, today, I am walking in my purpose and calling 100%. I love these kids! I am ecstatic right now, but I will be even more ecstatic, and full of a mother's pride, when I get to present my "son" to New Covenant Church to be baptized. I am just as proud right now as I was when my own biological son was baptized at age 10. Driving kids to church, answering drama-filled texts at 2:00 am, staying up all night at summer camp talking and praying, teaching, preaching, and most of all, LOVING, is not in vain!! I thank you for partnering with me in this mission--and I hope you are as joyful today as I am!