I currently sitting in Phoenix airport, after an excellent long weekend with my family, waiting for my flight back to Colorado Springs. (Love you guys!) These last 8 months have been tough on the family, but in 3 weeks, my terminal leave with the Air Force begins and I am reunited with my family For Good. But I just wanted to write a little more about the huge change we are about to make.
Basically, we’ve accepted the Jesus’ commission and the challenge… to go into the world and preach the gospel. In the near future, the “world” for us will be Arizona State University (we’re helping develop a student ministry while we are in Arizona), then Spain and Swaziland. By entering into this mission, we’ve jumped into spiritual warfare–and we realize that the road will not be easy, and that the enemy will try to slip through any chinks in our armor. By that, I mean that he will try to sow seeds of doubt, fear, and use the world to discourage us from our stated goal: to build God’s Kingdom, to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. Life will get harder, but at the same time, it will be more rewarding, and we will be able to see more closely the working of Christ in our lives and in the world.
When I say that life will get harder, and that the “trials” will get tougher, it’s not that for some reason the Christ in us is now overpowered by evil–instead, we have entered the arena, we are allowing the devil to shoot his arrows at us–so that we can shrug them off in the power of Christ, to display his glory and to break the strongholds as we build the Kingdom.
Jesus never said it would be easy:
John 16: 31-33:
“You believe at last!” Jesus answered. “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. …
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Amen! and one last thing…
1 Corinthians 9:16– Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!