Ministry to the Poor

I read something just now and it made me realize how often we in our culture misinterpret things of God. As common as the writings of Paul have become, I often take lightly the great depth of insight they contain. He weighs each word according to proper usage and speaks clearly the words he intends. I struggle with mission trips, not because of the phrase, just simply because of the short amount of intense effort done leaving the community served in a few weeks max and going back home leaving them with maybe a resurrected building, a nice coat of paint on their peeling church walls, cleaned streets, or vulnerable hearts left with a verbal commitment to this Christ that is still partly a stranger to them. My heart breaks with the feeling of abandoning these weak souls, usually with a group member telling me, "we left pamplets," that makes me wonder if they really understand, has any good resulted in this trip, will they be changed, will they know the God I know..? BUT LISTEN~ Paul was a frontier missionary, a pioneer missionary, whose job was to plant the church in places where there were no churches and then move on while the church went on with the work of evangelism. He says at one point, "But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions.." REALLY?! I'm pretty sure if anyone said that nowadays we would consider them arrogant. But he wasn't! He knew His task. He was the first guy in and knew what needed to be proclaimed. Moreover, he knew the necessary prayer life to bring to saving grace that particular town.

But actually here's my point. Do I know the God I proclaim? Paul knew deeply this great God and could not contain himself but to share this great joy. He wants to go to Rome but has been unable due to the task he willingly operates of spreading the gospel to foreign places. We have this free Book, this free guide to knowing God, realizing our life purposes, understanding conflict and other people, yet I somehow don't adequately use this vital tool. This vital tool we call the Bible with its life-giving words. Its words that should be the reason we 'live and move and have our being'. What will it take for our generation to see the magnitude and importance of scripture?