I certainly won’t argue with that. It does take faith to go! Especially in the difficult work of planting churches, campus ministries and other Kingdom oriented work. Nor is it easy to go away to college or take a job in another city. Yet sometimes going is exactly what God is calling us to.

It has been rightly said by many leaders that the American church is too comfortable. Many people need to get out their comfort zone and engage in greater sacrifice for the cause of Christ. With this generalization I wholeheartedly agree. With the resources of people, free-time and finances at our disposal in America it seems like we should be able to accomplish so much more if everyone was really engaged and passionate about accomplishing our mission.

However, is going the only way to do this? Is going where true faith is evidenced.  Though God frequently calls people to go, that doesn’t mean that going is the only way to grow, or the only valid evidence of real faith. In my opinion, sometimes staying can be just as hard, if not harder, than going.

The newness involved in going has an inherent excitement about it that is attractive. Staying can seem boring and stale, especially in our society with it’s ever decreasing attention span. It takes focus and commitment to stick with the old, and to persevere in the “same old boring strokes” of day to day ministry in a context that has lost it’s newness. Though any ministry involving real live people is pretty action packed and “exciting”, building a well established ministry doesn’t exactly have the same excitement-factor as moving to a big city or foreign country to start something out of nothing.

Recently I was speaking to a friend from college and he seemed confused that I am still living serving in the same city that I have been for the past ten years, with no plans of leaving any time soon. Though he didn’t say so, I got the impression that he thought I was somehow missing out on bigger opportunities somewhere else.

I have had many friends and co-laborers in local ministry leave over the years to go and be a part of church plants and missions work in other parts of the world. The people who have gone out are doing some good things which are to be supported and celebrated! However, if we were honest about it, all the going over the years has created stress and increased work-load for those who have stayed. Staying and building takes perseverance and it isn’t always easy.

So what shall we say about going versus staying? Is one more strategic than the other? Is one more of a faith-builder than the other?

I really don’t think so. Both can be challenging and both can stretch a person’s faith. Yet, Biblical faith is simply obedience to God. Though the roles of who is going and who is staying may change depending on the times and seasons of God’s plan, there will likely always need to be some people going and other people staying and building in any missional context.

For everyone to leave would be abandonment, not kingdom advancement. For everyone to stay and no one to ever go would be to neglect the Great Commission and turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the lost and dying outside the current area of ministry.

Yet which role you are to play is between you and God. What is He calling you to do in this season of your life? Faithfulness to God is ultimately what counts.

2.       Think about your life experiences and note significant moments in your story. This includes both good and bad (ie. when you moved to a new city, when your parents got divorced, your relational history, when you first heard about Lordship etc.) You won’t end up including all these details in your testimony each time you share it, but you will certainly want to include some of them, depending on which ones relate most to your story.

3. Identify the first time when you received Jesus as savior and surrendered to Him as Lord. This should be the pivotal moment or climax of your testimony. If you aren’t sure exactly what moment you really “got saved” that’s OK, it may have been more of a process in your understanding and responding to truth. Be honest with people about that. But try to identify a point when something happened that led to a radical change.

4. Clearly identify the stages of your life in relationship to the Gospel. Outline your story. For example: 1) Before coming to Christ, 2) Point of response to Christ 3) My life as a follower of Christ. Making a simple outline can really help. I cannot emphasize this point enough!

5.       Write down your story. Too many people think that there is something unspiritual about the discipline of writing down their testimony. If there was something unspiritual about writing we wouldn’t have the Bible (I’m just sayin’).  The discipline of writing can tremendously help you to put your story into intelligible words. If people just tune out because you are rambling every time you try to tell them about Jesus, that does no one any good. While on paper you can review the wording of your testimony and edit it in a way that you can’t if it is merely a vague thought in the back of your mind. Through the process of writing and re-writing you can better organize your thoughts and prepare to clearly articulate the change
that has happened in your life.

6.       Don’t talk so much about your past sinful experiences that it seems like you miss your life of sin now that you are a Christian. It can help people relate to you when you share some of the details of your life apart from Christ, but it shouldn’t sound like you miss your life of sin or had more fun sinning than you are now.

7.       Make Jesus the hero of your story. Of course, He already is the hero, but are you presenting Him as the hero in your story.  Though friends, churches or ministries may have played a significant part in that process (and it’s fine to honor them in your story) be sure people hearing you understand that it is Jesus that has saved you not just a relatable group of people or a catchy sermon series, or you learning how to live a better life.

8.       Interpret your story in light of Biblical truth. Our experiences should ultimately be interpreted in light of already revealed truth. What people need to see at the end is how your story relates to God’s story (revealed in Scripture), that we are sinners deserving of judgment but can receive forgiveness and hope through Jesus.

9.       Plan to share your testimony in three minutes or less. Sometimes you may have longer and sometimes you may need to merely summarize it in a short 30 second format (you could call this your “elevator” version). Most people aren’t going to get bored if you keep it brief. Allow them to ask for more details if they are interested.

10.    Practice sharing your testimony. By rehearsing you are not being “fake”. If you expect to share your testimony with people who don’t yet know Jesus (and you should), you may get nervous when actually sharing your testimony. When we are nervous we often don’t say things the way we mean to. Practicing helps.

Have you ever considered the difference between “expressing yourself”,  and complaining? The Bible clearly teaches that complaining is not an acceptable practice. But what about just “expressing yourself” or “sharing from your heart”?

I believe that there is a place for sharing unpleasant experiences with others, but we must be very careful with this. Sometimes it would seem that we Christians just use such phrases as euphemisms to make us feel better about what we area actually doing. Complaining.

I think the main difference between appropriate sharing and complaining is basically the  absence of two things: humility and genuine thankfulness.

When we are complaining we are usually failing to see the bigger perspective. We are giving in to self-pity and this means a lack of humility that our circumstances, no matter how painful or difficult, are still being used by God for our good.

Giving in to the temptation to complain also means that we have lost a heart of gratitude and a thankful spirit, which honors God.

We need to cultivate hearts of humility and genuine thankfulness. God actually “opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. (This is frightening thought!)

To further guard ourselves against the temptation to complain we would do well to honestly ask ourselves a couple of questions before sharing that frustrating situation with someone else.

How would sharing this information with this person help the situation? Contrary to popular opinion, sharing something with another person doesn’t always help. Sometimes we think that “just talking about it” will automatically help. While in some situations it can help, if the person has some wise insight to share or is able to just listen without getting totally ticked off themselves, but this isn’t always true. Sometimes it’s best to just forget an offense, pray about it and move on.

Is it likely that sharing this information with this person would harm them? (ie. cause them to complain)? We shouldn’t “just vent” to people without thinking about where they are at in their walk of faith or how it could effect them. That’s just selfish. We should consider the emotional/spiritual health and maturity of the person we are talking to before we share things. It is possible for us to be sharing from a place of humility and thankfulness, but yet to still hurt someone else who isn’t mature enough to handle that information.

James 1:26 says “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless”! We Christians cannot allow ourselves to think it’s OK to complain. After all, Jesus has poured out an incredible amount of mercy on us. We are forgiven! We are the last people in the world who should be complaining! Let’s guard our tongues and give our Savior the praise he deserves. Even when we are suffering.

Do you find yourself quick to complain? How can you cultivate more thankfulness and humility in your heart?

- The 52 least reached countries in the world are located between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude.

- 3.5 Billion people live there.

- 95% of the unreached people of the world are in this area.

- Of the 11,200 people groups in the world, 6,600 are still considered “unreached”.

- Only .05% of Christian giving goes to reaching the peoples of the 10/40 window.

- Only 7% of all international missionaries work within the 10/40 window.

(These stats are provided by The Traveling Team. )

In Romans 15:20 Paul says “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…” While there are certainly people all over the world who need to repent of their sins and treasure Jesus Christ above anything and everything else, there are whole ethnic and linguistic groups of people who have virtually no exposure at all to the gospel. When I first learned this, I was shocked! Many years later I still am.

How can this be the case over two thousand years after Jesus came and died that there are still so many who have no real access to this good news?

My heart breaks for those who have no access to the gospel. Those living in areas of the world who have more access to the gospel (probably almost anyone who would be reading this post) doing to see the task of reaching every nation completed?

I urge you to get involved in bringing to the utter most parts of the earth. May we see these stats change drastically in our generation!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I desperately desire to be a faithful witness of Jesus. He is so amazing, and so worthy of honor, celebration and worship. Through Him alone do we have hope of salvation.

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Here are some of the photos from the baptisms this past Friday:

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“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” – Paul  (I Corinthians 1:22-24)

“What about you…Who do you say I am” – Jesus (Matthew 16:15)

Two years. That’s how long it has been since I’ve left the college campus and entered the “real world.” While at FAMU, a spark was lit in me that I never knew would grow into the fire that now consumes me. Though young in the faith and by no means an expert in the Christian faith, that spark created a desire to learn and know more about God. After graduating, the Lord blessed me to be able to find a group of believers that were not only committed to God’s Truth, but also committed to sharing this truth. Two years ago, I thought I was on fire for the Lord. Two years ago, I was just a campfire. I had the Word of God, but yet, I still kept it contained in its place. Now, through God’s grace, this campfire has now grown into a wildfire, consuming and taking over every part of me. As I walk through this world, my heart is broken by the many who are lost and dying and don’t even know it. Due to the wildfire that burns within me, I can no longer sit back and not extend the gospel of God’s reconciliation to these people (2 Cor 5:18-19). I now look for any and every opportunity to show the love of God and share his message to all I encounter.

May we see hundreds of students with “campfires” that turn into a “wildfires” burning inside them. May they be used of God to “show the love of God and share his message” with all they encounter both during college and throughout the entirety of their lives!

Campus ministry isn’t just about having some religious meetings on a campus. It’s about reaching students with the gospel and then equipping them to impact the world after graduation.

Check out this re-cap video from last year’s conference and pray that God stirs the hearts of students with his purposes and plans.

Click here to view the embedded video.