By David Bennett

I could make a list of things that we can do as Christians to serve Jesus, but it would only end up being is a list from which to reference different things to choose from. Is that what we need to do to serve God? Eeny meeny miny mo–this is the area of service to which I will go. That’s a bit too pragmatic, don’t you think? We all have gifts, which oddly enough tend to be cultivated in the lives we live as children of wrath before we repent of our sins and turn to God. Not always, but often.

The former journalist who ends up writing Christian study books, the heavy metal band guitarist who ends up writing uplifting worship music and leading a church music ministry, or the truck driver who drives the church bus. Or the former public school teacher who bags it and becomes a Christian school teacher. We’ve all heard of things like this, and that’s great. The Body of Christ has many testimonial stories like these.

More often than that though, the Body is full of many other people who have not ever used their talents to serve Christ. I think there are only a few reasons for that:

1) They don’t know how.

2)They’re afraid to.

3) They give no weight to the importance of how it is that the Holy Spirit will use the gifts that He has given them.

4) They aren’t really a believers; they’re just sitting in church.

5) They are believers but they just want to sit in church.

That may not be a comprehensive list, but I think it’s close enough.

Acts 2:42 says,  “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

And we could grab onto that passage and build a doctrine out of it. “Look! See? Right there! We are supposed to do these things and insulate ourselves from the world! I get to plant myself in the pew and stay there.” That might be a lot easier to do than to engage in the world, if it weren’t passages like Matthew 28:19-20:

“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

That by the way is a little thing known as a commandment, from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Just a little, tiny responsibility we have, to reach out in the Spirit and truth about God to the lost and give them the gospel. That isn’t always easy when you consider that most of them don’t want it. Whether people want it or not is not the litmus test for sharing it either. We are commanded to do this. So share we must, and wanting to do so should be a normal outgrowth of our faith. There is really no excuse for not doing so.

Somewhere, someone is saying, “Okay I don’t get to sit in the pew, but I just can’t talk to people that way.” I understand those feelings. I still have those feelings. I’m 6′ 1′ and not a tiny guy. I shared the gospel with an older guy of very slight stature the other day, and I had butterflies in my stomach when I began to share with him. I don’t always get those feelings, but I still get them. So should I only share when I am not afraid?

No, I should share the gospel of Jesus whenever I have the chance because the Bible has given us predictive prophecy to show us that time before His return is growing extremely short. It also tells us that we are either saved from God’s wrath, or we are children of wrath. The Bible speaks of sin, righteousness and of God’s judgment. We know that Jesus is loving, but we know that He hates sin, and that He is coming back to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God (Revelation 19:15). How can we ignore the eternal direction that so many are moving in?

We need to be active for God and we need to be doing that because we love Him and because He loves those who are perishing in their sins. I’m sure that there are other passages that sum up how we are to behave as believers, but I believe that 1st Thessalonians Chapter 5, when coupled with the Lord’s great commission from Matthew 28, is a pretty good picture of how Christians should act and what they should be doing.

1 Thessalonians 5 5:1-28
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.  Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing”

And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.  See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,  in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us.  Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the holy brethren.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”

By Elisabeth K.

We watch with baited breath as the world compliantly, cooperatively, gleefully, jumps into the hand basket that is taking it to hell; and we are waiting-waiting-waiting for the Rapture. Maybe I’m not the only one literally looking skyward some days, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jesus on the horizon. I even had a dream about it not long ago. I was in a beautiful grassy field with thousands of other people, and we were all running up a hill with our arms stretched out–we were all calling for Jesus to come down out of the sky and take us home.

It’s a wonderful thing to anticipate. I literally get a little thrill in my soul when it really hits me that we could all be in heaven soon and our earthly fight will be over. But it isn’t like waiting on Christmas–we can’t just sit here making a list of all the great things we’re going to do and the questions we’re going to ask when we get to heaven.

We need to seriously consider what we each can be doing while we wait, and it won’t be the same for everyone. But we all should be doing something. Personally, I worry about how much treasure I’m storing up in heaven–not because I expect to find a giant pile of angel gold so I can go shopping or anything. I don’t want to get up there and have only a tiny pile of glitter to show my Father simply because I spent so much of my life wasting time by waiting with my hands in my lap.

Now, I’m a very contrary person. Sometimes this can benefit me–most times it does not. But I find that in certain situations, it is just what I need. It keeps me from believing lies–it keeps me from accepting any old story that comes down the pike–it keeps me on my toes. Mega-churches however well-meaning and/or possibly effective they may be in getting the good news out, annoy me.

I have never felt welcome, at home, or even close to God while attending one. Maybe it’s my fault. But because of this contrariness and my aversion to enormous, impersonal churches, I have reached an important conclusion which, while it may not apply to everyone, is certainly applicable to me and those like me.

It’s all about the one-on-one. In this world of enormousness subtlety is a lost art. Everything is the most outrageous-biggest-extreme-deadliest-fastest thing that ever came down the pike. Have you noticed? Talking to people one-on-one and actually relating to them on a personal level is unheard of. We’re a society of reaching-the-masses to the point where the individual is no longer important. We are trite, we speak by rote, and we don’t connect with one another anymore.

I used to think that in order to be effective for God and useful to Him in the world, I had to be capable of making a sweeping global change in some area of service. But we can’t all be Mother Theresa or Billy Graham. Some of us are just regular shmoes who go to work every day and just hope to make it home in one piece. We regular shmoes are just as “important” in God’s plans as world-famous religious pioneers, otherwise why would God have made so many of us?

Every day in my job as a legal assistant at a one-man law firm I come across tragedy, pain, need, hurt, and confusion. And every day, almost without fail, opportunities present themselves to me that I know God is sending. The chance to pray for a young man on his third drug charge–to pray with a woman who has been married for almost 30 years and whose husband has suddenly filed for divorce–to counsel a young soldier who has been duped into marriage by someone he barely knows and who is using him for military benefits and ruining his credit–to offer advice to an older lady who is being taken advantage of by someone.

My boss and I are uniquely positioned to help people every single day we come to work. I fear I have missed many of these opportunities for fear of the reaction I might receive–but God is giving me a boldness which I have never had before in my life. I am convinced He is using me in these last days before the Rapture to try to plant a seed of hope and curiosity about Him in the hearts of those I meet.

I think that is what it has all come down to. You don’t have to shout from a mountain top to be heard. You don’t have to put up billboards and run full-page ads in the newspaper to make a point. You can just sit down with some of the other regular folks you meet each day and tell them about how God is working in your life. What better occupation in which to be engaging when He comes to call you home?

In addition to this daily ministry for strangers, I am preparing my own home and family for Christ’s return. My husband is Jewish, and only barely at that. He likes Chanukah and going to weddings but that’s about it. He tells me that he and God have “an understanding.” I tell him I’m worried about him, and oh, by the way, did you know this or that new thing I just read on the Rapture Ready site? He thinks I’m obsessed and probably a little nuts for believing in “the whole Jesus thing.” He smiles, not condescendingly, really–patiently.

When I remind him when the time comes and I disappear he is NOT to take the mark of the beast, but to accept Christ right away. (He thinks he knows better.) But if the Rapture happens before I die, and he is there to witness it all the things I’ve told him, hopefully he’ll finally believe–pray daily that the Rapture will happen while he and I are in the same room so there can be no doubt.

All this may not seem like much, but I can at least plant the seeds. So can we all–with a friend, an acquaintance, a relative who is not a believer. Who knows who you might be preparing for the Kingdom just by telling them you prayed for them? And my motto has become, “When there’s a delay–it’s time to pray.” Talk about passing the time in traffic! There’s always an endless list of people who need prayer, including me.

I’ll never make a huge impact on the world. But I hope that when I finally get to meet my heavenly Father and look Him in the eye, I won’t be completely ashamed of my efforts. I want Him to place His hand on my head and smile and tell me I did all right–that I didn’t disappoint Him as I fear that I do. And then I want Him to smile on my husband as he comes marching proudly through the pearly gates and I get to tell him, one last time, “I told you so.”