Empty But Able

Hey guys,

This is a call to anyone reading this who is empty but able -- busy with all the things in this life (work, school, etc), but willing by the grace of God to summon one more ounce of energy to do something of eternal value. We all dream of things we wish we were, wish we'd done, or wish we could do someday -- can we put those creative energies to a Kingdom purpose? Sometimes we get those sparks that want to ignite a mission larger than us, for God's glory, but I know for my part that the fire quickly fades because it's hard to do something alone, particularly when so much in life is going on. Perhaps that's why Christ created His church as a body. Feet get us places, but without eyes to give vision, the feet run without direction. Ears hear and discern, but without mouths, the ears cannot relay the message.

I'm not trying to be superspiritual in this pursuit of something "great". I read what Christians past and present thought and did, though, and know that all of us can do the same. Our sleep is precious, but do we treasure it more than time in God's Word? Those before us didn't, and we have testimonies of lives that shone brightly for God because of that.

Maybe this will fade like a word spoken into the wind, or maybe it will echo and resonate with someone. For the latter, is there anyone who wants to get together (online or off) and brainstorm on eternal ideas and then figure out how to make them reality? We all have different talents, but we have the same mind of Christ. So even if our ideas span the spectrum of fields or topics, we can encourage each other and constructively analyze the ideas discerningly and practically. Some thoughts along the pray-give-go framework (which applies to more than just missions)...

1. Pray

• Develop a daily prayer list, updated on a weekly basis. I don't know about everyone else, but for me the lists of requests that we receive from many places can be overwhelming and seem daunting and insurmountable. If a group could get together weekly (say a Saturday morning), combine lists, divide it by days and even by persons (depending on the number of requests), and then send it out to anyone who wants to join in, it could make a big difference on the number of people praying.
• Create a website with up-to-date requests organized by category. When requests have been answered, they could be updated and categorized accordingly to show a history of God's faithfulness. One more website might not get much traffic, but with some RSS feeds, it could be integrated into Firefox and other browsers and even Facebook for easy access.

2. Give ($$)

• Personally, those who wanted to work on this could get together and in an accountability-format, think through our own finances and see if we might be able to manage them differently to be able to dedicate more to ministries and missions. A Compassion child only costs $32 a month, so if a group of 4 people could find a way to save $8 a month each (i.e. cut out two Starbucks drinks), they could sponsor another child. The same applies to church and missionary support. Even carpooling to church could save $5 a week with gas prices these days.
• Brainstorm on ways to generate side income that could be dedicated wholly to a ministry or ministries. A couple computer guys could do some PC support on the side and send all the income to a missionary. Or a creative techie person could design websites or graphics and contribute to the new children's building fund. College or high school tutoring? I bet most of us could help out in one subject area or another. Babysitting? I'm sure there are other ideas -- but that's where other people come into play :).

3. Go

• Serve in local ministries: volunteering at homeless shelters like Union Gospel Mission in Dallas; answering phones and sharing the Gospel at Need Him (888-NEED-HIM), children's ministries at church, etc. Even if we can only serve sporadically in one of those places, we can encourage one another, share our experiences, and pull each other along when we need that boost to keep going.
• Step out in short-term missions: We all take a two week vacation from time to time (maybe every summer) -- could the next one be to Costa Rica or Germany or East Asia? No doubt, it's a big step into the "uncomfortable zone", but it's amazing to see what the Lord does when you follow His lead there. And you can serve in a variety of ways on a short-term trip. Vacation Bible School with kids, construction on a church building, door-to-door evangelism, teaching English or another skill and answering the "why are you here?" question as it comes up -- so many ways!
• And of course, long-term missions or ministry work: This takes us back to the Pray and Give sections. Those serving locally full-time can be involved in all of these with us, but those who serve in distant places need our prayer and financial support.

I realize that's a lot to ponder, but isn't it possible? Can't we gather like the early church and dedicate ourselves to the service of the Lord, even while work, school, and the rest of this world tries to sap all of our time from us? We can't do it alone, but we have a great God and He's given us each other to "encourage one another more and more as [we] see the day approaching" (Hebrews 10:24-25). So if anyone wants to commit to something like this, let me know.

~Chris