Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Reaching Out to the Military in Your Community

Ministry leaders, what if you had access to a special people group within your church who
could benefit from your ministry, but also help you reach your community for Christ?  And what if they could then be mobilized to take the gospel message to the uttermost parts of the earth, helping to fulfill The Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20)?  Would you be interested in making them part of your ministry strategy?

I hope the answer is yes because chances are you may already have access to them right now.  They are the men and women of our military services, both active, guard, reserve, and retired.  They are indeed special.  And you could say they are "missionaries in waiting" ... waiting for you to train, equip, and deploy them as ambassadors for Christ.  

Here in the National Capital Region, the population is dense with military people.  Consider this:  there's about 50,000 active duty who reside here, with another 70,000 dependents and family members, along with more than 30,000 veterans.  There's no other location in the country that has 10 military hubs or bases so close together.  In sum, there's upwards of 150,000 military in the greater Washington DC area.  

The spiritual needs are significant.  With 2 of 3 military marriages struggling and many unraveling, 4 of 5 combat veterans silently struggling with trauma, and 22 veterans a day committing suicide (that's one nearly every 60 minutes in our nation), the needs for ministry to the military have never been greater!

Here's the top 10 reasons why I think military men and women deserve your attention and why they could benefit you in your ministry:

1.  They're tested and proven leaders.

2.  They know how to work well in teams.

3.  Their service in various assignments around the nation and overseas make them highly adaptable to new experiences.

4.  Having been to a number of professional development schools and training make them teachable AND good teachers.

5.  They serve as role models for others.

6.  They're mission-focused and results-driven.

7.  Honor and integrity are core values from their military service.  

8.  They're highly disciplined.

9.  They're courageous and not afraid to take on challenging tasks.

10. They remain committed and dedicated to organizational goals.

Those attributes would be attractive on anyone's resume.  

Think of this special group as cross cultural missionaries and as force multipliers.  Your church can help impact the world for Christ by Ministering to the military in your sphere of influence, Mobilizing them as they become equipped to deploy or move on to their next location, and then watch them Multiplying by training others to be disciples.  II Tim 2:2 (NASB) says, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Keith Morgan serves as the Local Director for Cru Military (Keith.Morgan@CruMilitary.org) and also as Director for the National Capital Region Military Ministry Alliance (www.NCRMMA.org) which focuses on collaborative, gospel-focused ministry in the NCR.so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus.

  

Things to Remember About the Election

Former senior pastor of McLean Bible Church Lon
Solomon in Northern Virginia reminds we Christ-

followers of a few critical things about the upcoming election:

#1. God is in control. End of story. He decides who will be President. Period. "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1 "Jesus answered [speaking to Pilate], “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” John 19:11 "No one… can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another." Psalms 75:6-7. As the Bible states, God puts leaders in place, people do not. We can’t begin to know what God is thinking or allowing. He exalts both the godly and ungodly to fulfill His purposes.

#2. The world is not going to end regardless of who is elected. Jesus is still King. We have seen worse and survived. (read your Bible about some of the immoral leaders that God used). If you had God’s birds-eye view of the human race, we all look pretty immoral and hopeless. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9. You can trust that God has a plan. I don’t know what the plan is, but I do know God ALWAYS has a plan for His Glory. Always.

#3. We can never, ever put our faith and trust in any human being, only Christ. If Jesus were on the ballot this fall, He would get my vote, but He is not. Not voting is not an option. It is our responsibility as Americans to exercise our civic duty and vote. Pray for God’s will to be done, vote as closely as you can for those that will uphold biblical principles, then put your faith and trust in Christ alone…..and vote.

What's Wrong With You Men? Seriously!

A few years back at a Christian conference  the
late Dr. R.C Sproul. uttered a line in response to a audience question that has since become quite famous: "What's wrong with you people!" The question was:

"Since God is slow to anger and patient, then why, when man first sinned, was His wrath and punishment so severe and long lasting?"

R.C.'s blunt answer was as follows:

Timeout! Didn’t we just have that question a second ago?

God’s punishment for Adam was so severe?

This creature from the dirt defied the everlasting holy God. After that, God had said “the day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die” and instead of dieing (thanatos) that day, he lived another day and was clothed in his nakedness, by pure grace, and had the consequences of the curse applied for quite some time, but the worse curse would come upon the one who seduced him, whose head would be crushed by the seed of the woman. And the punishment was too severe? What’s wrong with you people? I’m serious! I mean, this is what’s wrong with the Christian church today. We don’t know who God is, and we don’t know who we are.

The question is, why wasn’t it infinitely more severe? If we have any understanding of our sin and any understanding of who God is, that’s the question. Isn’t it?


R.C. wasn't trying to funny but was all too serious about those who call themselves "Christians" yet seemingly do not know who God is nor who we are. Watch his classic 2-minute moment of biblical truth and may it be sobering to your soul HERE 
Brothers, this truth is also foundational to being a man of God - i.e. having R.C's passion for the Holiness of God and His Glorious Gospel!