Dogs & Doghouses

Hello, my name is (insert missionary name here) and my sponsoring church is (insert name and state of sponsoring church here). The Lord is really (pick one – a: blessing, b: opening doors, or c: burdening) the (insert name of mission here).

This past year we had (insert number between 40 and 200) professions of faith and (insert number between 40 and 200) baptisms. Additionally, (insert number between 5 and 15) men have surrendered to preach this past year.

However, our needs continue. We are working on being a (pick one – a: self-supporting church, b: independent church, c: a cornerstone work) in (insert name of nation or state where mission exists). We need an additional (insert amount of dollars between $15,000 and $100,000) in order to (pick one – a: buy some land for the church, b: pay off our building, c: meet an emergency need, d: train up other missionaries) that the Lord is providing for us.

We have a booth in the convention center. Be sure to visit and God Bless!

I read The Purpose Driven Church and have been thinking for a while now, comparing some things you say with what's in the Bible. You should change the word 'seeker' to 'customer'. That would make much better sense and people would understand your philosophy much better.

I Corinthians 3:11 - For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; (13) Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

One of my first ‘real’ jobs after college was for a small company. I worked there for about four years. Whenever I spoke with the owners, they impressed upon me that they were really close to the one BIG DEAL that would put the company over the top. The meetings were full of energy and promise; for the entire time I worked with them they were always really close to that one BIG DEAL. I didn’t realize it then but that template (lots of promise, lots of talk, the gold ring just out of reach) was going to be before me in every for-profit company I ever worked with. Alas, the BIG DEAL never materialized. The company won new business and made the next payroll, usually. But the talk about the gold just beyond the next bend in the road was mostly noise and wasted energy. I suppose businesses, large and small, need true believers.

The thing is, I’ve got a teeny, tiny, life and everything I do is going to be judged. Only those things I do for the cause of Christ are going to make it through the flames of judgment. What I’m saying is, if you are going to be a true believer, make sure it’s in the right thing. If you are going to give huge amounts of time and energy to something, make sure that something is worth it and that it will stand the test of God’s judgment.