LFF Blog
I just graduated from the University of Missouri Kansas City with a bachelor's degree in finance. Like most 23-year-olds, my plan was to begin a career, find a wife, and start a family. I had plans for my future and I was content with how everything was playing out. But then God opened up the opportunity to go to Kenya for a year.
If you don’t realize that you are to bring forth truth in the midst of hostility, then you have most likely already been rendered ineffective by the enemy. The invitation into a walk with the Lord is to take up your cross and follow (Mat 16:24), to join in the fellowship of his sufferings (Php 3:10). Hostility is promised from the outset.
As a newbie to Mission Focus, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The reality is that it was exactly what I needed as a pastor to bring the totality of the Mission into clear Focus. I was able to witness firsthand the culmination of evangelism, discipleship, ministry training, and church planting. I heard personal testimonies of people who were won to Christ through evangelistic Bible studies. People were open and excited about being involved in discipleship. We celebrated those graduating from LFBI. Andew Ong was ordained into the pastoral ministry. Missionaries from all over the world were prayed over and supported. And many surrendered their lives completely to the Mission.
Whether your church implements an explicit directory of members or not, God calls you to the highest devotion to your local church body and its individual members. Implementing a definitive church membership appears to be both biblically sound in light of scripture’s teachings for the church and practically effective to the needs of our people.
We are in need of a Mission Focus, not because we have forgotten the Great Commission or because we don’t know what discipleship is. We need a Mission Focus Conference because we need our faith to be bolstered. The Living Faith Fellowship needs their sabers rattled by being brought into remembrance of how God does great things with “small people”.
For 2,000 years, growing Christians have been looking to Timothy as a model for what their own personal faithfulness should look like. His testimony is particularly significant to young people because of his age as well as the manner in which his spiritual growth is displayed. We see the pattern of his life from one faith proposition to another, growing from a spiritual child to a developed pastor and leader at a young age.
