Warning: This one might take you a little while to read but I think its pretty good today so hang in there with me!
So its about 12:37 a.m. eastern time here in the passenger seat of my stylish Ford Taurus.... My longtime friend and roommate, Ian and I are about 4 hours into our 15 hour roadtrip home to the great state of Maryland from the beautiful city of Birmingham! Ian is driving right now so I figured I would take some of this newfound free time to write you all and update you on the status of this summer’s trip! We are planning on driving about 800 miles in a car with no air-conditioning, oh and the engine light is on... Oh well... Anyways, thank you so much for all the prayers and support many of you have offered over the past couple of weeks. I can’t really express how thankful I am to my college friends who have given financially to my mission this summer!
I am sorry it has taken so long for me to update this blog again, I was dealing with finals and the crash of my MacBook over the past week or two so I haven’t been able to work on the fundraising aspect of this trip until recently. I am happy to say though, that I have finally sent the majority of my support letters out! (If you would like to receive a support letter just email me with your address at jshepshep@gmail.com and I’ll send you one to you as soon as I possibly can!)
It is only TEN DAYS till I fly out of Baltimore-Washington Airport destined for Cape Town, South Africa! How quick the time has passed since I was first told about this mission trip. I thank God so much for the opportunity to do His will this summer!
Today I figured I would continue to update this blog with some reflections on some of the things I’m experiencing, reading, etc. along this journey to Cape Town.
I have been reading a very convicting book recently by an outstanding pastor down in Birmingham, AL named David Platt. His new book is called “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.” I’ve read just over half of it so far but I have been very challenged by David in what I have read. His goal in writing his book is to get the reader to look at what Jesus actually says in the gospels and compare this to the American Dream. He says that many Americans have subconsciously tamed the real Jesus into the type of Jesus that allows them to do what they want to do and spend money on what they want to spend money. (As a disclaimer I am not writing this little reflection on money management and personal sacrifice in order to get you to give me more money! Seriously, it just happens to be the book I am reading right now so I’m afraid thats all I have to write about!) And to be even more honest, I would much rather you give your time to helping others than just giving some of your money.
Jesus calls us to take up our cross daily and follow him. But what does this really mean to us? The cross was quite obviously an ancient method of slow torture and death, but often times we forget this. We have been desensitized to this unimaginable experience of humiliation and agony. Maybe Jesus calls us to take up our electrical chair daily, or for our willingness to daily burn at the stake for Christ. Look seriously at the implications of this thinking. Christ calls us to be willing to give more of ourselves than merely our financial resources, He calls us to put ourselves out there and risk our comfort for His glory. But often we try to rationalize these passages away by saying something like: “Jesus really wouldn’t tell us not to bury our father and say good-bye to our family” (like He did to his disciples) or “Jesus didn’t literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor... (like he did to the rich young ruler)” But David warns us to be careful here, he warns us that we are starting to redefine Christianity, simply because we don’t want to deal with what Christ is saying to me, what he is saying to you. We are often tempted to turn the real Jesus found in the Bible into the good looking, clean cut, caucasian male who really wouldn’t tell us to sell our Jaguar convertible. Jesus wouldn’t really want us settling for a Toyota... In order for us to give the money to those helping the poverty stricken single mothers in downtown Baltimore. Or even worse so we can go down there and help them in person! --But God may call us to do just that.
Maybe I give my 10% like the Bible tells me too. Awesome, I get by and waltz in to heaven doing the bare minimum, or just above it, to get my reward...
But lets face it, its not about me or my 10%...
Giving 10% is an Old Testament idea my friends, the New Testament calls on us to give our entire lives! What an incredible and daunting challenge. Trust me, I don’t like hearing this half as much as you but it is part of being a follower of Christ. He wants our everything, and besides shouldn’t we be willing to give more than just 10% to the God who saved our soul?
But hang in there with me, here is the kicker:
When we give of our things and ourselves away, we can have joy in this. We can have joy because we really aren’t giving anything away, rather all we are doing is gaining. We can give everything away while gaining everything we could ever need.
What an awesome paradox, praise God!
What do you think it would look like for you to trust in God for your financial needs? Are you willing to give a little more than the “American Dream” would permit? Are you willing to donate your time and prayers to the kids suffering under the sex trade rings in Birmingham? Bottom line here (for me at least):
Christ calls me to do more than what I am doing. He calls me and you to trust more in His provision. And finally, the God living and dwelling within you, calls you to take up your electric chair daily and put yourself at risk, in whatever form that may be, to serve God’s will here on earth, here, in your city, today.
Why not try taking a risk this week for the God who saved your soul?
If you are interested in donating to my trip this summer read on... If not, thank you for your prayers and see you next week!
If you would like to give, your donation IS now TAX DEDUCTIBLE! That’s right, thanks to my awesome church back in Maryland this is really happening. Get excited.
Please make the check out to The Church At Severn Run
And make sure to put “Josh Sheppard’s mission trip” in the note at the bottom of the check.
Please do not mail it to my college address, but rather mail it to my home address, it is:
Josh Sheppard
8203 Joshua Ct.
Laurel, MD 20708
Thank you once again for reading this blog and praying for my trip this summer. I pray that you have a blessed day!
Josh Sheppard
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