I recently had my debut album reviewed by a big Christian music website. The risk with having your CD reviewed by pros is that they don’t care whether they’re positive or not. They tell you like it is. All in all, a quick but positive review.

For the closing session of our missions trip, I closed with this simple teaching on living a ‘nowhere’ lifestyle – developing a life pattern that reaches out to people. Remember these three F’s:

1. Fix Your Priorities – choose to prioritize outreach as a ‘main responsibility’ in your life
2. Find Joy in Christ – without an ongoing joy in Christ, evangelism will burn out. You must have something to give.
3. Fill Time With People – become a person who engages with people often. Evangelism works best out of relationship.

I’m so proud of the group of young adults that gave their time, passion, and sleep to this week!

This week during our missions trip we are memorizing one verse a day. Something that I’ve noticed is that most people convince themselves that they can’t memorize. I am fully convinced that memorizing Scripture has more to do with hard work than whether or not you’re good at memorizing. Maybe it takes you forever. That is OK. There is nothing, nothing more worthy of your careful thought and meditation.

Next time you are quoting Napoleon Dynamite with your friends, stop and realize what a great memorizer you really are. You just had to watch the movie 80 times and concentrate on the randomness. The same goes with Scripture (other than the randomness). Spend time with it. Quote it during the day.

It will change your life.

“Don’t you know, I’ve been memorizing Scripture like all week?” (read in the voice of Kip).

Yesterday was a Millvale day. Our newest church plant, Element Church, is beginning this Sunday and we had the opportunity to invest in this community for a whole day. For those who didn’t have work that day, we went to a personal care home in the morning. We played Bingo, made crafts, frosted cookies, laughed, talked, and prayed for people. It was some of the most fun all week.

In the afternoon we helped clean up the ‘soon-to-be’ Millvale library. We were moved by Brian’s (the library guy) vision for the place. The work was crazy (tearing down ceilings, bagging up tons of scrap wood, tearing up carpet, and painting. It was amazing. So fulfilling to invest a few hours in such a great cause.

In the evening we all met up and went door-to-door, passing out flyers for Element Church. Can’t wait for what God is going to do  through this church.

As for today:

Daily verse to memorize: II Corinthians 4:5

“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

Daily Challenge: Share the Gospel

As you look at today’s challenge, are you scared to death? If so, perfect. You’re just the right kind of person for this mission. It is eternally important that we become people who share the Gospel with those who don’t believe. While serving people and meeting earthly needs are good and necessary, it will not save their souls. We need to introduce them to Jesus Christ. The best way I’ve found to do this is by seeing each and every person you encounter as genuinely interesting. Being interested in who they are, whether good or bad, will open the door to sharing the Gospel. To simply confront someone and begin preaching to them in our culture is not only intrusive but also not always effective. Ask God for an opportunity today to talk about Christ with someone at work. Maybe it’s the same person you’ve been ministering to all week. You are now a preacher of the Gospel!

What an amazing day yesterday! So many testimonies from people reaching out! I am totally loving this experience, even though I’m not sleeping very much and drinking too much coffee and Red Bull.

Verse to memorize – II Corinthians 2:14

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”

Daily Challenge: Prayer

The challenge today is to pray for someone at work. The goal is one person but feel free to pray for as many as the Holy Spirit places on your heart. Pray for a co-worker who is struggling with a difficult relationship. Pray for someone who is sick to be made well. This is not personal, alone prayer. This is out loud and heart to heart. Be sure to ask if it is OK and then proceed. Be ready to share with your small group who and what you prayed for today. Let’s believe for God to use us today as He spreads the fragrance of the His knowledge through our lives.