This blog, like our radio show, will be a place to focus on digging deep into God's Word and also discussing, at times, things going on with Youthquake. It may deal less with Youthquake than our show because this blog reaches a national - even international - audience much more easily. That's because the forum - Blogger - is international and thus more easily accessed by those outside Northeast Ohio.
This blog, unlike our radio show, is free. Please pray for us to get a staff car quickly, or even a ministry van, so we can continue the work,; or, that the one we have can be repaired very economically. We must pay for air time on the radio, something even I (Doug) didn't realize till I started volunteering as part of it. (Edited to add, got minivan in Feb. 2016,still can use funds to pay for radio show, increase it.)
You may have wondered where we minister - though most readers will have figured Canton means "Canton, Ohio" I presume that some of you pictured another Canton. (Not necessarily China's, either - I chuckled as I glanced at a few and discovered that Canton, Michigan, passed Canton, Ohio in population several years ago. Of course, Ohio fans will perhaps joke that a football scoreboard is where it counts. :-))
True Christians should love to have fun, like with the above - we should have the most fun of all because we're forgiven and have a personal relationship with the Creator Himself, who made this world perfect and loves us even though we chose through out own free will to bring sin and death and suffering into the world. We don't need to fall for the world's definition of fun. Dedicated followers of Jesus Christ simply have Him on the throne of their heart. We make jokes referencing things like the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry above with the understanding that such things aren't as important as Jesus in our mission fields.
Yes, whichever field you are on, you have a responsibility to others to share His love and forgiveness.
"But, wait," you may say, "I'm not on a foreign field, I'm here at home."
I once led someone to Christ - he went from head knowledge of Jesus to heart knowledge, receiving Jesus' forgiveness for his sins by faith - in an airport during a flight delay. Our field is literally wherever we are at the moment, in that respect. It may be praying with a waitress in a restaurant who has just gotten some bad news, it may be helping an elderly neighbor with groceries, it may be one of many things where we minister to others through our love and kindness, rather than focusing on ourselves.
However, in another respect, our mission field is where we work, live, go to school, worship, etc.. It's those places where others see us day after day, and where we must show that consistent example of Jesus Christ and His love, mercy, and forgiveness, but also His being clearly distinct from the world's system and standing for the absolute truth of the Bible. He lived in the world but He was not of the world, and we must be that way, too, so people see a difference.
Occasionally, we branch out, of course. Our radio show has been heard by and had response from people in different states, and this blog could even reach different countries. Who knows how someone may be led to serve the Lord becasue the Spirit worked in them after reading this. When we get those chances, we must act on them, letting God lead us to the right way to handle each situation; looking prayerfully for that person to share Jesus with instead of complaining about a flight delay, in the example above.
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