I was reading this morning in Acts chapter 4, where Peter and John are called in to see the top Jewish religious leaders—the ones who had their master put to death—to explain themselves for preaching in Jesus’ name.  Two things stood out to me. 

     First, it says in verse 8 that Peter responded while “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  In the world today, it can be hard to know whether people are really speaking from God or from themselves, but here the Bible definitively says that these words were from God.  My heart leaned forward to see just how the Holy Spirit would sound and what I noticed was how bold and confident Peter was.  If it were me, I’d be trying to persuade and convince these—my spiritual supervisors—to agree with what I’m doing, or to at least not see it as something causing trouble that they should try to stop.  Not Peter! He talks to them with the kind of authority my kids use when they’re delivering a message to each other that starts with “Dad says…”  Peter makes no apologies or compromises.  He’s following orders from higher up the chain of authority.

     The other thing that stands out is that the rulers made note that Peter and John had spent time with Jesus.  That, I believe, is what we each need to focus on for ourselves so that we can be used by God like they were.

Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. — Philippians 1:4-6

We mentioned last month how we’d been gearing up for an enormous gospel opportunity called The Send.

Lots of powerful things happened as over 60,000 believers gathered in Orlando to be thrust out into the mission field and to pray that God would keep sending more and more.  509 people put their faith in Jesus that day while thousands committed their lives as missionaries.

I got to help man a table for Cru and walk around the stadium praying for people and handing out resources to help them connect with missions opportunities around the world.  One of my favorite encounters was with a young man named Joey.  He said, “Are you a missions organization?  I want to got to Nicaragua.  Can I go with you guys?”  I sent him information about our team in that country as well as the folks who lead mission trips there.  Pray for Joey and for the many others God is touching through this event.

On top of the event itself, we are working with 300 volunteers to reach 30 new campuses around Florida.  They will be walking on campuses in search of students whom God has called to lead a movement of the gospel at their school.  My team will then coach them and plug them in with local churches who can propel them toward all God wants to do.  Would you join us in prayer for these volunteers, churches and undiscovered student leaders (as well as the many thousands who will be impacted by their lives)?

   Lupe, Victoria, and Julie are Hispanic students engaged with our Destino ministry in San Antonio.  This month, they attended the Destino Winter Conference here in Orlando, which Karen and I were able to help by connecting local Spanish-speaking churches.  They met with hundreds of fellow missionary-students to grow in Christ and learn how to better make Him known on their own campus.  They were able to share the gospel here in the city and were inspired to do more.

Because of the training and the outreach at the conference, they came back with a new heart to reach the community around their church.  They got permission from their pastor to have Destino come and train the church in evangelism.  The training and outreach are now planned for March.

This is just the sort of unity Karen and I are working toward.  These students are on fire for the Lord and they are gaining leadership and evangelism experiences that must be shared with the Church as a whole.  Only together will God complete the task Jesus prayed for in John 17:20-21.  Please pray for Lupe, Victoria, Julie, their campus, church and community.  Pray also that more students and churches would bind together like this!

     Over Christmas break, about nine thousand students gathered in hotel conference rooms at 9 locations around the country for an intense week of spiritual growth and action.  Here’s how one student, Shalom, was impacted:

“[Before the conference,] I asked myself: at what point do I stop being a Chinese immigrant and start labeling myself as American? As years went on, I started to suppress my Chinese cultural identity and began to embrace the full American culture.

Now, after this conference, I no longer see myself torn between two distinctly different cultures but as a bridge to reach out to the Chinese/international communities around my school. I realized I was gifted the knowledge and understanding of multiple languages and cultures by God to be a missionary to my fellow classmates at UCI!” 

The event was an incredible spiritual accelerator for Shalom and the other 1,200 students attending in LA. They also had opportunities to share the gospel during the Day of Outreach. Stepping out in faith, many for the first time, in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results up to God… He allowed them to have 702 spiritual conversations with people around the city and 50 people prayed to ask Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.  Your prayers and support are helping students like Shalom reach their classmates with the eternity-changing love of Jesus!

  In the only prayer request Jesus commands of us, He says, “ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38).  The word “send” is ekballō which is closer to “cast out.”  It makes me think of big bouncers coming to throw us out of our comfort zones.

Near the end of February, over 60,000 of God’s children will gather in a soccer stadium for 12 hours here in Orlando to an event called The SEND. Francis Chan, Lou Engel, YWAM, Hillsong and many others are asking God to use them to “cast out” these believers into high schools, colleges, neighborhoods and nations of the world with the love of Christ.

     It sounds incredible!  We can’t wait to be a part of it and we hope you join us, but Karen and I have already gotten to have an incredible part in this!  We met with one of the folks running the event and introduced him to the Cru leaders overseeing ministry in FL.  Because of that, 370 volunteers from the Send will stay for a month afterward, walking on 75 campuses and launching new Cru movements that we will then teach local churches how to run!  Praise God for the unity of His Church!

     I (Jeff) can swing back and forth between striving “for God” on one side and running from work entirely on the other.  I act like I’m really running with God, but I’m doing it under my own power instead of His, and doing what I think should be done instead of letting God take the lead.  When that happens I may get a lot done, but who knows if it is even what the Lord wants to accomplish.  I certainly stay busy, but it is only a matter of time before I feel burnt out.

When burnout sets in, I stop wanting work for Him at all.  I crave “me time” and would rather be distracted by entertainment, especially the kind that doesn’t require much energy.

This isn’t the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10, but it isn’t because God is holding out on me.  I’m the one spending so much energy without plugging into the source.  Rather than focusing so hard on results, I need to abide in (make my home with) Christ.

The model to the right came from a pastor and ministry partner who has learned this first-hand.  Our only part in the cycle is seeking and responding to intimacy with God.  I know that means spending time in God’s word, but one of the biggest dangers there for me is familiarity.  Another friend encouraged me there, saying that God speaks to us through His living word even in passages that don’t directly relate to what you’re going through.  I’m sitting at His feet more, praying deeper, and waiting on the Lord.  His plan is better than mine, and a whole lot more livable!