Back to Life...Back to Reality

So ive been reading through a John Piper book called Future Grace. And up till now i have really enjoyed this book, then i got to the chapter Loving Ministry More Than Life. Just reading the title made me cringe a little because when i read the title it makes me think that i am going to be reading about how i need to put my husband and someday children and sanity and all my energy into ministry until the point that im exhausted. Needless to say i was apprehensive, but ohh Mr. Piper you have done it again. God has used this man to once again break my selfish heart and help me realize that ministry truly is more important than life. It makes me think of that verse in psalms "because your life is better than life, my lips will glorify you."

God has equiped all who are his to do ministry, that may not mean everyone preaches, but we all have different ways that God uses us to minister to others. Piper quotes Henry Martyn who said, "if God has work for me to do I cannot die." I know that sounds extreme until you start to think about it. God does have an appointed purpose for us and until that is fulfilled were aliens in a foreign land. Now im sure that doesn't mean go and do all kinds of risky things that put your life in danger and it probably doesn' t mean that you will never suffer or do things you don't want to do, but if we try to save our lives so that we can do ministry we've got it wrong. We should lose our lives for Christ and all that He has done for us. So lets get back to life and back to reality.

Ministry Spot Light

Over the weekend my wife sarah and I got to go to a “Weekend to Remember” conference put on by Family Life(www.familylife.com). Conference was great and very encouraging but it was a very different experience. I have lived in Little Rock Arkansas my whole life and for a good portion of my friends have been children of Family Life Missionaries. Because I've always been around the ministry it has been very easy to over look what God is doing.
At the conference couples of all ages and backgrounds, christians and non christians, all for the sake of strengthening, preparing, or even saving their marriages. Seeing how these couples all had a weekend to simply focus on each other while being saturated by the gospel was a very encouraging thing for me to see since I've known people who run these conferences for years. We happened to know the guy who was the coordinator for the conference, so we heard many great stories from past weekends and how God uses these weekends to save marriages and bring people to Himself. I hope that you don't do what I tend to do and let the work of local missionaries go without being notice, and especially prayed for. Check out your local ministries that you might typically forget to join me in praying for them today.

JB