Okay, so we were in
Australia for five, yes, five weeks. It
was an amazing, exhilarating, fulfilling and somewhat life altering
experience.
We
were privileged to see lives restored to their original purpose in Christ,
hearts mended, minds renewed, and people brought into right relationship with
Jesus.
Biker Man preached.
He brought the Word.
It was awesome.
One message he gave was called
“How
To Be A Failure In Ministry.”
I could see some individuals
scratching their heads, until he explained that to most Christians and the
Church today, Jesus’ ministry would not be considered successful. He picked His disciples in their
workplace. None of them were chosen by
their local rabbi to pursue further ministry study at the synagogue, they were
told to go back home and pursue their father’s trade.
Jesus had to, on more than
one occasion, bring correction to his followers for lack of faith.
Jesus’ disciples all forsook
Him in His deepest hour of need, one betrayed Him, another denied Him, and they
all went into hiding after His death.
Yet, He is the Model we are
to follow.
After His resurrection and
ascension, Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit, and His disciples became the world
changers He called them to be.
True discipleship. Living out our faith for others to
follow. Lovingly bringing correction
where it’s needed. Giving of ourselves
again and again, willingly and freely.
Pouring out the water on dusty feet, even the ones who will leave and
betray us.
Because it was never about
Him. Jesus told the ones He healed,
“Tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest.”
Why? Most ministries today would proclaim, “Check
it out!! Healing ministry taking
place!! Come and get it!!” (Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but you
get what I’m saying.)
Because.....
(and this was the part Biker Man drove home)
Jesus’ ministry on earth was
never about bringing glory to Himself. Jesus
was always pointing the people to His Father.
Jesus wasn’t glorified until after
He was raised from the dead!
And it’s not until we are
crucified with Christ and raised to new life in Him that our lives can in any
way bring glory to the Father. We live
for Christ, to bring others into relationship with Him, and build His
kingdom. Not to build a “mini kingdom”
of our own.
That’s not the entire
message, but it’s in a nutshell what was preached.
Really good, right?
I loved it.
So now we’re back in the
good ol’ US of A. It’s great to be home.
Except it has taken over a week to get our clocks back on
USA time.
Australia is 16 hours
ahead. Sixteen.
For a few nights, Ellie and
Drummer Boy would be wide awake at three am.
Hungry. Really. Hungry.
Because it was six pm in
Australia. Dinner time.
“Well, it’s not dinner time
right now,” I would calmly and deliriously explain, with one eye peering at
them.
“But mom! We can’t
sleep! It could be a bedtime
snack!”
“GO. TO.
SLEEP. NOW.” (Waaaayyyy easier said than done.)
Those nights are behind us
now.
Thank you so much for
praying for us as we traveled. We are so
grateful to be part of such a wonderful family like Crossroads, and an even bigger family of believers like you! Thank you for keeping us held up in prayer! More testimonies to come, sooner than later, I promise.
