Wellington Church of Christ

The older I get, the less and less things I get excited about in this world.  Spiritually speaking, I think that’s a good thing, but I must admit that I miss the excitement that I used to feel.

For instance, on the night that I’m writing this article, I have just finished spending the day with the family at Dollywood, which is a theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  It’s basically a little bit smaller replica of Silver Dollar City with a few quirks that make it different, but not much.

The LeFlore’s set out Sunday afternoon, April 23^rd, and headed east.  We made our first stop in Hot Springs, Arkansas and stayed at one of only two hotels that we’ve been able to locate that will allow seven people in the same room.

Some will see a title like this and immediately feel defensive or offended.  I promise, I have no intention of making you feel either way.

It is simply a question.  It is a question that I ask myself regularly.  Of course, without context, the question can be interpreted in different ways, so let me say what my intentions are.

Sometimes it’s hard to answer the same question time and time again. 

Whenever I talk about foreign missions, one such question comes up, in one way or another, every time.  The question is, “Why are we helping people in another country when there are plenty to people to help here?”

Just a Few Reasons

When Jesus told his disciples and, by extension, us, to go into all the world in Matthew 28:19, He didn’t give us a long list of personal benefits of our going, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t benefits!

Jesus said in John 10:10, ¹⁰…I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Jesus had many purposes under the umbrella of his ministry and one of those purposes was not only to make it possible for us to live again after we die, but also, to truly live while we are in the here and now, or as He put it, to have life abundantly.

Unless something happens to prevent it, the week of June 10-17, Rex, Tyler and I will be partnering with The Park Church of Christ of Tulsa, and going back to the Reserva Biologica Tawahka, the giant rainforest and biological reserve of southeastern Honduras.

And even though we can’t avoid death, because as of right now, there are 166,324 deaths that occur every day.  That’s 6,930 per hour, 116 per minute, and 1.93 per second, in case you were wondering.

In church history, there arises from time to time, seasons of persecution.  We’ll look this week at the very first season of church persecution that began in Jerusalem when the church was only weeks old.

The longer I preach, the more analogies I see everywhere I look, and especially in my own life. 

For instance, earlier this week I woke up with that dreaded super raw throat that I get when I suffer from drainage all night as I sleep.

I took medicine for three days to try to kick what was increasingly feeling like a sinus infection, and I progressively got worse, not better.