mission morning call: Come out into the fields

This morning this watchman recaps what has happened during the last three days. On June 4 he was led to read Matthew 24, all about end day: Earthquakes, famines, wars, people hating each other, cold love, falsehood and deceptions, and persecutions from haters of God against those who love Jesus. Jesus also speaks of how to be a good servant of God and what He describes as an evil servant. On June 5 the Sabah earthquake at the Mt Kinabalu happened. Up to this point 8 visiting pupils, and 2 teachers are still reported as missing.
On June 5 I was led to read the book on Martyrs and posted excerpts about a preacher who was persecuted and killed by the church because he believed in the full Gospel of the Bible and preached the words of God free of charge to the congregation every Sunday! In those days believers of the words of God were burned to death because of they were bold to share the Good News of the whole Bible.
Today is the third day. As I listened to Pastor Sandra Kennedy’s Whole Life Ministries’ worship service and her subsequent prayer, I realized that it matters how far each of us have walked on the spectrum of our relationship with God in Jesus. I have increasingly met more elderly and seasoned (senior but fit) ‘foot-soldiers’ of God in the mission fields. They stand out in one aspect: their age. Most are of 50s and above, 60s and 70s. I was told some are in their 80s and still standing and walking.
Recently I met a man and wife in their 50s preparing to come out into one of the poorest people groups to serve. The love of Christ has compelled them. When introduced I was not surprised that he is one of the top established educators in his country and even internationally. He holds the highest position in the corporate entity he has decided to relinquish. He is paying a great monetary and other price to follow Jesus to the field. The cost of following Jesus is high. I was not surprised of the increasingly high caliber of the individuals whom the Lord has called and who have responded to Him.
Why are the senior ‘elites’ being called? Why are they responding? I can only use one word to describe our God, ‘AWESOME’. We have found various professionals, former bankers, financiers, educators, lawyers, medical doctors, accountants, engineers, international award-winning artists, corporate executives, businessmen and business women, pastors and evangelists conglomerating with the poorest and uneducated in the Kingdom of God. Matthew 22 described the wedding (great feast) invitation and the crowd that gathered when the intended guests did not turn up. The King’s instructed:
“Now, go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.” (22:9) “So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.” (22:10)
From experience we know that it is difficult for a poor and uneducated younger man to invite an older person from a higher social, economic, and political power strata to Jesus. It appears that the last frontier now is to gather chosen from ‘exclusive’ social people groups which hitherto has been left out from the Kingdom of God. The Lord said, “invite everyone.” Yes, everyone. That is why the old guards are emerging out of their churches’ closets now and marching into the streets.
What about the young in the streets? Who will invite them? That is for the younger generation of Christians to ask the Lord. My personal  observation is that the more you bring the world into your churches the less you will be able to march out there and bring the lost youth in. By the way they are not in your part of the cities. Unless you leave your comfort zones and venture into the poorest deep waters and live among them you will not reach them.
 Good News: The retired Christians are no longer retired. There is no retirement age in the fields. Come out to the fields.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Bible promises:

Psalm 92:14

They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing,

Psalm 1:3

He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalm 107:37

And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest.

Psalm 128:3

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table.

The Jesus Generation

Some years back, we read of people born in different periods being classified as generation X or generation Y etc. The social classifiers (mostly commercially linked) tried to put people into periods with distinct market related characteristics (for the sake of selling the right consumption products to each niche people market) by the chronological years in which they were born. This watchman did a bit of market-related study on such classifications then. Of course nothing of original note or unique worthiness came out of the study. Any serious researcher will admit that there are no fixed factors. One famous management saying at one time was, “The only constant is change.” Having been in the management scene practically all of my corporate years, I have learned this important fact and principle: “Do not attempt to presume and classify an individual.”
Because this is not a management blog, I will proceed to share of some recent testimonies of Christian individuals I have met who have lived a fruitful life in the Kingdom of God and have never fit into any ‘sociology-commercial’ or ‘pseudo-psychology’ categories.
I have been honored and blessed to meet with a godly couple. A medical (dentistry) doctor and his wife who used to be a professional nurse until she became a full-time housewife cum intercessor. When I listened to their sharing I was humbled and touched. The man (now in his mid-fifties) came from a Christian family and went through the whole journey of being in Sunday school, junior and senior youth in the church. When he attended university, he was exposed to and discipled by many Christian theological and Bible-focused scholars and practitioners. He was also given many opportunities to serve the Lord in various Great-Commission-oriented evangelical ministries. After graduation he heard from the Lord, “Give Me your best 25 years.”
He went back to his hometown, started his dentistry practice (as a ‘tent-maker’) and resumed serving as an elder in his home church. He continued this ministry for thirty years to date. When I interviewed him I perceived his unwavering and ever-burning zeal and passion for the Lord and the Great Commission given by Jesus to the disciples. His wife and his children (two medical doctors and one dentist) too serve the Lord actively. This is a family of disciples of Jesus. Their affluence and professional successes have not diverted them from their first love.
The head of the house shared how he was overwhelmed by the great love of God in the form of brilliant light twice in his life, comforting him at his depressed moments when he felt such burdens on his shoulder from the external environment in spiritual valley (family and church lives not being what he wanted them to be). He shared how the love of God changed his perspectives.
What generations are they? They are members of only one generation -the Jesus generation. The Child of God generation. They are timeless. They live the characteristics of the Kingdom of God people.