Steadfast Love – February 2014

Today I’m cleaning my shoes. My light brown, slip-on, business casual shoes. They have seen a lot of mileage lately. I was surprised how comfortable they have been. They are dusty and dirty. As I sit and clean them I think of all the places they have carried me in the last nine days. I spray them and wipe them off. The rag is pretty filthy.

I counted up all the dusty roads they have walked this last week and a half. They have carried me to two continents, three countries, and six different cities on this trip. I’m wiping off dust from Chile, Peru, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, among other various cities we stopped in. It’s amazing how well they’ve held up. These brown slip-on shoes are good ones.

I just returned from a mission’s discovery team. Pastor Lorin and I are part of the missions team here at church and over the last few years we have received several invitations to come to South America and see what is happening. Our church has no current work on that continent so the missions team decided to send a few team members to investigate and report back. Pastor Lorin and I were the team members for this trip. We went to look at work related to church planting, leadership development and compassion outreaches. On the way home we stopped in inner city Philadelphia to see Urban Hope Training Center. We were impressed with what we saw.

As I clean my shoes and reflect on the trip, I’m struck by one simple thought. The thought is this: Jesus and His people are EVERYWHERE! Jesus is becoming more famous in Santiago, Chile through His Spanish speaking people there, like Gabe, Eric, Doug, Shelley, Jake and Heidi. He is becoming more famous in Tacna, Peru through Pastor Tito and Pastor Victor and Steve and Pauly, His Peruvian people. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jesus is becoming more famous in the hard core inner city through people like Ed Lewis, Jason, and Logan. Many are coming to Christ, dozens of churches have been planted over the last 35 years, and compassion projects soften people’s resistance to Jesus.

JESUS AND HIS PEEPS ARE EVERYWHERE! I know this is not a revolutionary thought, it’s nothing new. But somehow I had forgotten. It was great to be reminded once again. There are going to be millions and millions and millions of people, who are living RIGHT NOW, whom we will never meet, but who will join us in heaven for all eternity. I cannot wait to get to heaven and hear their stories! They are making Jesus more famous through coffee shops, building homes, cutting hair, engaging children in a neighborhood. They are using a million different ways to make Jesus famous. AND IT’S WORKING.

But you know what??? Jesus and His people are right here too, in our town, in ‘A-town’, as my kids like to call it. You’re one of His peeps. Keep up the good work of making Jesus more famous within your people group; at your work, school or neighborhood. One day the people I met will want to meet you and hear your story of how you made Jesus more famous.

Thanks for being a congregation who loves missions!

I love being your Pastor. See you on Sunday!

Blessings,
Pastor Phil