SEASONED WITH SALT

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person. — Colossians‬ ‭4:6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Christians, when we talk, we ought to be using words which are seasoned with the salt of God's grace. What does that mean? It means there should be some evidence of the grace of God and the influence of God’s Holy Spirit from within us when we speak.

Others should know we are a child of God not only because we say so but because of how we say what we say including the look on our face when we say it. Can I just tell ya something?  A deaf person from across the room should be able to pick us out of a crowd as being different and uniquely influenced by God’s grace.

A deaf person from across the room should be able to pick us out of a crowd as being different and uniquely influenced by God's Grace.

Jesus said we are both the light of the world and the salt of the earth. If we have to tell others this is the case because it is not obvious, then it is a red flag alert there are spiritual issues which need to be addressed.

Before we were rescued and restored, when we were still unsaved and separated from God, we said whatever we wanted, with no moral compass within us to guide our speech. But, as a new creation, it is a whole new plan. We have been born again by the grace of God. Our words should be seasoned with the salt of His grace so that we might add flavor to the lives of those who God places in our paths.

PATO, PATO, GONSO

Our family runs a non-profit missions ministry called Evident Ministries.  We host ministry teams for a week of Team Ministry twice per year - in December/January and July.  Our ministry teams participate in a week of Team Ministry as they reach out to groups in Women's, Children's, Sport's, and evening worship service ministry.

Our Children's Ministry teams quickly learn that children in Mexico do not spend all their time playing video games and staring at smart phones.  

Children in Mexico, like most third world countries, spend a great deal of their time, playing games with each other outside.  One of the games our Children's Ministry teams play with children in Mexico is Duck, Duck, Goose...or as it is called in Mexico, Pato, Pato, Gonso.  

As you likely already know, the game of Duck, Duck, Goose involves children sitting in a circle where the child who is "it" walks around the outside of the circle, touching each child on the head as they say, "Duck" for each child.  Randomly, they will choose a child who, when they touch their head, they will instead say, "Goose".  At that point, the child who was chosen as the "goose" will jump up and chase the person who was "it" around the circle and back to their empty spot in the circle.  If the one who is "it" makes it back without being tagged, the "goose" becomes "it".  If they are tagged by the "goose" before sitting down, they remain "it" and go again.

Here's the thing.  The truth is that every child in the circle hopes to become the "goose" so they can jump up and maybe get to be "it".  As a result, each child will sit up straight and attempt to stand out in the crowd by maybe sitting taller or somehow triggering a "goose" when they are tapped.  

Too often, we are playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" with God.  We are trying to sit up straight to get His attention.  

We are trying to act right and to behave in public in order to impress God.  We think, even if only subconsciously, that we must surely need to impress God with our good behavior, or He will not notice us.  This kind of stinking-thinking belongs to the world.  It does not belong in the life of a Christian.  You won't find this anywhere within God's Biblical standard for living.

Can I just tell ya something?  You cannot impress God.  There is nothing you can do which will ever cause God to love you any more OR less than He loved you in the moment of your salvation.  This is not a feeling.  This is a Biblical fact and truth.  God already chose to love you and not because of how well you behave in public.  It was the result of His great mercy and love for His own creation.

Prayer -
Father, please forgive me for ever thinking my good or bad behavior will influence Your love, grace, or mercy for me.  Your Word says nothing I do will ever influence those things in either direction.  I don't deserve those things, cannot earn them, and could never repay You for them.  Amen.

#Missions #Evident #MásDeTi

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift ​— ​ not from works, so that no one can boast. 1 -- Ephesians 2:8-10 (CSB)

Come As You Are

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10

When our family hosts ministry teams in Mexico with Evident Ministries it is good.  We and our ministry teams are doing our Jesus thing.  We are sweating for Jesus and it is good. Jesus DID say, "Go and make disciples." We ARE going....but.  But, here is what Jesus did NOT say:  "Go and make disciples...1 or 2  weeks per year."  We have a responsibility, as "Ambassadors of Christ", to be on the clock 24/7, 52 weeks per year.  It is just too easy to take our 1 or 2 weeks per year and mark "evangelism" off on our checklist.  Our sinful nature within makes too easy to pridefully think of ourselves as "having arrived" and as better than others because we have that item checked on our checklist...

Can I just tell ya something?  No one is a member of the body of Christ because they deserve to be!  None of us got God’s attention by our perfection.  In fact, none of us EVER even came close. Romans 3:23 says, we ALL fall short of the glory of God.  As Christians, we are sinners saved by the grace of God and I am very grateful for that.

Someone said this, 

"The church is the only organization in the world where the only qualification for membership is to be unqualified.” 

Therefore, what the church is NOT is a place for people who have “arrived” or who are 100% obedient and just soooo spiritual.  The church is actually a place for those who are needy, afraid, confused, and quite sinful.  If you are a Christian and I am correct, I should have just described you:  Needy, afraid, confused, and quite sinful.

I believe this is one of the best principals the church has going for her.  Not much is more appealing or attractive to the unchurched than to find out there really is a place where they can go and NOT be intimidated by the FALSE notion that the church is full of PERFECT PEOPLE!

As a member of the Body of Christ, you may not realize it but some of your non-Christian friends really do think the church is full of perfect people.  Do you wonder where they got that idea?  If you have ever been around a bunch of spiritually snooty folks then you already know. There is hardly anyone less approachable than a group of Christ followers who have forgotten how they received God's Grace in the first place and how much they needed it when they did. 

On the other hand – hardly anything is more attractive than a bunch of humble sinners, gathered as the family of God, saved by His Grace, sincerely praising Jesus for His love!  “Yeah, sometimes I struggle.”, admitted by a humble Christ follower, is an attractive thing to hear for the unchurched.  It is attractive and it is refreshing.  

Can I just tell ya something? Our Savior is perfect but we are not!  In fact, I can safely say, we as Christians, are all still in the molding process.  We are a work in progress.  In our surrender, He IS MAKING (not has made) us more like Him.  Some of us may have matured in our faith to a place of consistency...by God's Grace.  But, the truth is even the most spiritually mature among us still struggle everyday sin.  We may have reached a point of general success with facing our anxieties and temptations…but we still have them. 

If we every going to be welcoming, not only in our church families, but in our faith circles as well, we must be willing to do what it takes to create a "Come As You Are" culture.

We must be willing to:  MAKE ALLOWANCES
We must follow the pattern set forth by God toward us and show grace.  God allowed us to come to Him in salvation in our imperfect state...while we were yet sinners.  We must be willing allow others into our world in THEIR imperfect state.

We must be willing to:  BE AUTHENTIC
The Bible is crystal clear about this.  We need to be #TellingTHEStory but we have no right to brag or boast about our salvation.  It is absolutely NOT a reward for good behavior.  


We must be willing to:  BE GOD’S MASTERPIECE
We are God's masterpiece.  His Word says so.  Let's live like we know it.  God is crafting a great work of art out of each of us.  We are created anew in Christ Jesus.  Can anyone tell this is true by how we live...or must we tell them?

PRAYER
Father, help us to allow other people to question our faith.  Help us to allow people to wrestle with their faith.  Help us to stay humble, childlike, and authentic.  Help our lives to be "Grace with skin on".  I pray others will see the good deeds and works your Grace is doing in our lives in a light which inspires them to want to experience your Grace as well.  Father put our lives on display for your Glory!  Amen.