Dare 2B Daring – June 6, 2013 A daily devotional published by Risk Takers for Christ, Inc. (Permission granted to reprint with proper attribution.) “The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity.” – Mike Stachura My son Chris and I watched “Gods and Generals” this week. It is a movie depicting some of the most pivotal battles of the Civil War and the generals on both sides who led their respective forces. Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Jeb Stuart are just three of the Confederate officers featured in the film. They were known as brilliant tacticians, often outmaneuvering their enemy despite being seriously outnumbered. However, to viewers today, their battle plans seem a bit outdated. More often than not, Union troops would form a straight line on one side of a field and the Confederate soldiers would assemble opposite them. Then, column after column would advance with the men standing shoulder to shoulder. And that is the way many of them died – shoulder to shoulder – because they were packed so closely together that it was almost impossible to miss when you fired at them. Strangely – but heroically – whenever a flag bearer was wounded or killed, another soldier would throw down his rifle in order to pick up the fallen banner. It was considered an honor to carry one’s regimental, state or national flag into battle. About 20 years ago, our family was attending a small independent Bible church in New Jersey. Despite having only about 150 members, we saw something truly miraculous happen in our congregation. Within a matter of a few months, five families in the church entered full-time Christian service. One family journeyed to Brazil and a retired couple felt called to Poland. A single young lady served as a campus missionary at Princeton University and another family left to run a Christian camp in New York State. And then there were the Gladings, who answered God’s call to prison ministry. Over the ensuing years, various family situations and even deaths forced four of the missionaries to come home from their respective fields of service. Deanna and I are the last ones still in vocational ministry. Surveys show that 50% of all full-time missionaries plan to retire within the next 10 years. Which makes me wonder – who is going to pick up the banner? Maybe God is calling you? “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2 (NKJV) - Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 01:17:14 +0000
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