I struGGLE finding the right words to drive this home for ya'll. I read the chapter again. I sat on it. I tried to recall some experiences of my own that HELP me to better understand a story Pastor Warren shares with us in this chapter...that is SO moving. I will share that story...it is lengthy & STRAIGHT from the book, but I want as many people to read it as possible....even my readers that may not go and get this book.
When I worked in nursing home sales, I officed with our MDS Coordinator & our Medical Records Coordinator. I became friends with both of these ladies & they have added to my life by sharing their experiences with me & us experiencing some together. One of those experiences was having a resident on our hall that was suffering from Dementia...among other things.
Every person I've encountered, suffers from Dementia differently. You will find some that slowly slide/progress into the disease. There are some that become happier/friendlier as the disease progresses...kind of...pleasantly unaware. Some become anxious or confused or timid...they regress. Then there are some that bitterly & angrily hold on to ALL they can as long as they can.
As I sit here & type this...it just AMAZES me at how we will CONTINUE to TEACH each other...until our final breath...and, by God's will, might be able to go on teaching people even longer.
This resident would scream different, random things all day long....most of the time. Sometimes they would holler for HELP. The 3 of us that shared an office & the other nurses, aids, & staff that were on duty, would take turns checking in with them. When you would go in...you NEVER know where the conversation was going. I can tell you that mine have ranged from conversations about their stuffed animal kitty to real life cats they used to have to our therapy cat to how their house was designed to them being the boss to blood-curdling screams & rants telling you how worthless & ugly you were (cuss words included...all of them). I had conversations with this person that could be about kitty cats one minute & then have them throw me the MOST hateful stare I have EVER gotten.
I share this with you because, you could see glimpses of their personality when you talked to them & I could see how hard they was clinging to whatever it was they still had. You could tell by the conversations what made them the happiest in their life, what made them feel the most secure, and ALL the insecurities they had throughout their life. It can show us what the things are we hang on to the longest.
Well...Now I will SHARE Pastor Warren's story with you. It is called "One More For Jesus"
"My father was a minister for over fifty years, serving mostly in small, rural churches. He was a simple preacher, but he was a man with a mission. His favorite activity was taking teams of volunteers overseas to build church buildings for small congregations. In his lifetime, Dad built over 150 churches around the world. In 1999, my father died of cancer. In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he would talk out loud about what he was dreaming. Sitting by his bedside, I learned a lot about my dad by just listening to his dreams. he relived one church building project after another. One night near the end, while my wife, my niece, and I were by his side, Dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course, he was too weak, and my wife insisted he lay back down. But he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so my wife finally asked, 'Jimmy, what are you trying to do?' He replied, 'Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus! Got to save one more for Jesus!' As I sat by his bed with tears flowing down my cheeks, I bowed my head to thank God for my dad's faith. At that moment Dad reached out and placed his frail hand on my head and said, as if commissioning me, 'Save one more for Jesus! Save one more for Jesus!' I intend for that to be the theme of the rest of my life. I invite you to consider it as a focus for your life, too, because nothing will make a greater difference for eternity. If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about; what he cares about most is the redemption of the people he made. He wants his lost children found! Nothing matters more to God; the Cross proves that. I pray that you will always be on the lookout to reach 'one more for Jesus' so that when you stand before God one day, you can say, 'Mission accomplished!'"
His father's life was given COMPLETELY to "bringing people to Jesus." Me reflecting on these two stories SHOWS me the importance of getting ourselves to Jesus first. WE have got to get there to bring other people to him. Not only that, but we have to get there while we can.
Another thing that STICKS OUT to me is : "one more." Probably the best SALES advice I EVER got were by two different gentleman. One is someone I knew ALL my life. I was selling raffle tickets as a little girl & I was afraid to ask people to buy them & this man said: "There's no need to be afraid. All they can do is tell you no. Then you can just go on to the next person. There is always 'one more' who will." The other was by a gentleman that was a regular at a restaurant I used to work at. He had retired from a career in sales & I believe I was just starting my first REAL job in sales. We were talking about cold-calling & he said: "When you've had a long day...even a bad day...& you didn't set very many appointments...BEFORE you wrap it up for the day...make 'one more' call."
Something that has just come to me.... Like I've told you before...MY VERSE right now is Mark 12:30. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart & with all your soul & with all your mind & with all your strength." It's a process. It takes work to REALLY love with ALL of anything. As I sit here typing out my reflections & take-aways from past experiences, I recognize that the FIRST STEP is to love God with ALL your heart. Once you do that...it will BECOME part of your SOUL. I believe our LONGEST & TOUGHEST battle will be to love with ALL our mind....it's no easy task to rid your mind of the bad & negativity in our world & our reactions to it.... & THEN...one day...when it seems like we have no STRENGTH left...we will MUSTER up ALL WE'VE GOT to give it all to Him.
What I've shared today doesn't even begin to tell you EVERYTHING this chapter holds. Here are some other important lines from the chapter:
"God wants you to have both a ministry in the Body of Christ and a mission in the world. Your ministry is your service to believers, and your mission is your service to unbelievers."
"Being a Christian includes being sent into the world as a representative of Jesus Christ."
"In the Great Commission Jesus said, 'Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to do everything I have told you.' This commission was given to every follower of Jesus, not to pastors and missionaries alone. This is your commission from Jesus, and it is not optional. These words of Jesus are not the Great Suggestion. If you are a part of God's family, your mission is mandatory. To ignore it would be disobedience."
"You are the only Christian some people will ever know, and your mission is to share Jesus with them."
"There are people on this planet whom only you will be able to reach, because of where you live and what God has made you to be."
"What we do know for sure is this: Jesus will not return until everyone God wants to hear the Good News has heard it. Jesus said, 'The Good News about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.'"
"You hand God a blank sheet with your name signed at the bottom and tell him to fill in the details."
"Jesus has promised, '[God] will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.'"
Here's the Daily Stuff:
"Point to Ponder: I was made for a mission."
Daily Bible Verse: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
Daily Question: "What fears have kept me from fulfilling the mission God made me to accomplish? What keeps me from telling others the Good News?"
From My Journal: I feel like I am moving forward with His mission. Sometimes I think the things that stop me are: finding the right time, place, and/or way to do it, sometimes peoples perception, timing, over thinking it, inconvenience, fear of being judged, method and timing of delivery for the message, projected acceptance of the message, being overwhelmed by it.
Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! Go get you that "one more" until you can't "one more" anymore.
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