October 29 2018 – Click here to listen
I don’t like cold weather. Give me south Florida heat and humidity and I’m happy as a well-fed pup taking a nap. We’re facing some cold weather where I live and as the temperature has dipped to 65 degrees I’m reluctantly digging out jackets and sweaters and muttering about having to wear long pants in lieu of shorts and flip flops.
One of my neighbors migrated north for the summer and has been sending me pictures of trees whose leaves are dying and turning red, yellow, and orange and one would think he has died and gone to heaven. He has sent numerous photos of the mountain view, the leaves, and his crackling fires and has tried his utmost to get my wife and I to come north and visit and view the leaves in “full bloom” and to enjoy the fires he builds in the mornings and at night.
I sent him a photo of a dead palm frond hanging on one of my palm trees in my front yard and told him I have no need of heading north and that we had dead leaves here too. I also sent him a photo of sunrise on the ocean with birds flying behind my boat and even a school of porpoise. Leaving this paradise to go see some dead leaves and shiver in the cold mountains is not my idea of fun.
Everyone has a different take on the ideal situation. Beginning with our fingerprints and continuing through our entire being we are all uniquely different. God made us that way and I’m glad. It would be incredibly boring if we were all the same, besides there are many things I don’t like to do that others seem to enjoy and vice versa. Besides looking at dead leaves, working in the yard is one of them. My yard guy loves to care for my grass and takes pride when it becomes lush green. I dislike yard work and if it weren’t for people like him I would concrete my yard and be done with it.
We have started a new feature at the Jesus Alliance entitled “The Difference Makers.” It details the stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things for Christ. Thank God we are different, because the needs of the church vary substantially. We will release this series beginning in about two weeks and you will love it. Good things are happening all over the world, but our negative media is obsessed with anything but good news for whatever reason. Seldom do we hear anything positive but as you will see marvelous things are occurring and you are sure to be encouraged as we feature these folks week after week.
What amazed me while working on this project is how ordinary Christian people are using their gifts to serve the Lord. I can stand before 15,000 people and speak with a smile on my face; others can serve in a hospice and smile; something I could never do. Another guy has a ministry for truck drivers that he administers while rolling down the road in his own big rig. Some will make the 35 hour flight to Africa to live in a mud hut as a missionary; there are those who cook monster pots of food to feed hundreds of impoverished people daily; there are those who want everyone in the world to have clean water, housing, and food and work towards that end, doctors and dentists travel all over the world at their own expense to provide healthcare for the poor, and there are those who disciple through teaching, and so on.
When I talk about unity in the church it is not about everyone lining up behind one person or denomination and marching to the same tune, it is all parts of the body of Christ using their unique skills to work as they are led by the Lord to usher in God’s kingdom. Everyone has what they need to serve the Lord. People are different and are created in that manner. The beautiful thing is to see the millions of decisions for Christ, hundreds of thousands of churches being planted, prisoners being visited, hungry being fed, homeless being provided for, people fighting to give the unborn a chance to live, old and sick being cared for and most importantly the Gospel being preached, and the nations discipled.
There are plenty of good things happening and each week we will feature a difference maker on our website, mailings, Words for the Day, and Facebook. It all happens because ordinary people see a problem and want something to be done about it. Then they ponder who might do it. Then God puts on their heart, “Well why not you? Why don’t YOU do something about it? And they do. Sometimes it takes years and sometimes it’s quick; sometimes these ministries become huge and others remain small, but all of us working together are building God’s kingdom right here on earth as it is in heaven and are glorifying God’s name in the process. We are united in mind and thought and use whatever skills we have to follow Jesus Christ. That my friends is unity of the church!
If you are or know a difference maker, send me contact information and hopefully we will see even more terrific things being accomplished for the Lord.
1 Cor. 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.